The Columbus Crew is ready for their third final in nine months as they prepare to welcome Club América to Columbus for the 2024 Campeones Cup. The Campeones Cup is an annual competition between MLS and Liga MX that pits the MLS Cup winner from the previous year against the Liga MX Winner of the previous year.

The Crew have won the Campeones Cup once in 2021 thanks to a 2-0 victory over Cruz Azul, after their 2020 MLS Cup triumph. Thus, the Black & Gold looks to add to its trophy case with another victory Wednesday night. Club América will have other ideas as they enter the fray in Lower.com Field on Wednesday. América has the pedigree to match their ambitions as arguably the biggest and most successful club in North America historically.

In addition to their historical significance, América comes off only the fourth “bicampeon” in Liga MX history. Being a Bicampeon means that América won both the “apertura” and “clausura” seasons in Mexico. Thus, América and their supporters will feel confident in their ability to add another trophy to their already impressive collection. Here is everything you need to know for a huge match on Wednesday night between the two best teams in North America.

Club América at a Glance:

League Record: 4-1-4, 13 points

Form: D-W-W-L-L

Leading Scorer: Henry Martin (5)

Assist Leader: Alvaro Fidalgo, Henry Martin, Néstor Araujo (2)

Player to Watch: Henry Martin

Martin has become the focal point for the América offense thus far in their Apertura campaign. The 31-year-old striker has registered five goals and two assists in nine appearances thus far. Martin is also a regular for the Mexican National team with 45 appearances to his name. Martin is a classic central forward and is a perfect fit for how Las Aguillas play. Martin excels at creating danger for himself and his teammates in and around the box with his movement and passing ability. Martin is in the 93rd percentile for “Shot Creating Actions” according to fbref.com, this highlights his ability to create shots for his teammates and himself. Martin is also an excellent physical presence up top. Despite not being that tallest, his strong frame and ability to use his body to compete with and frustrate defenders make him a nightmare to deal with defensively. The Crew will need to limit Martin’s touches in the attacking third in order to keep him from impacting this game and igniting the América attack. 

How Club América plays: 

Club América manager Andre Jardine has been in charge for just over a year now, and has won two Liga MX campaigns, as well as reached a CONCACAF Champions Cup semi final and Leagues Cup quarterfinal. Needless to say, the Brazilian has gotten used to winning on the América touchline. That being said, Jardine’s side were dismantled in their last trip to Columbus during the 2023 Leagues Cup which saw the Crew run out 4-1 winners in their first match without Lucas Zelarayan. Both Club América and the Crew look vastly different now then they did in the previous match between these two sides. Regardless, it will be interesting to see if Jardine has any significant changes in mind for this matchup.

As the América boss, Jardine has almost exclusively gone to a 4-2-3-1 formation. The basic principles of his game model are to keep the ball as much as possible, similar to the Crew. América are a patient team in possession and look to recover the ball as quickly as possible when they lose possession. When in possession, Jardine’s side typically moves into a shape that is remarkably similar to the Black & Gold’s in possession shape. América look to have a base of three players at the back, with a box of four central players and three players along the forward line. To accomplish this, América will typically move an outside back high up the field and shift the other three defenders centrally. The winger on the same side as the advanced outside back will then move into the central channel to join the other three midfielders. While this is the most common rotation that occurs, there are several ways that América can rotate to get this desired shape. Regardless of the lineup or personnel, I expect to see Jardine use this 3-2-4-1 shape in possession on Wednesday.

Defensively, América’s main aim is to win possession back as quickly as possible. Oftentimes, this means that América will commit a large number of players to the area surrounding the ball to try and win the ball back from the opponents. This is once again similar to the Crew and how they defend immediately after losing possession. While the Crew will normally defend in a mid block once their opponents have established possession, América are usually willing to defend very high up the field and force turnovers and long balls from their opponents. América have one of the lowest Passes Per Defensive Action (PPDA) numbers in Liga MX and this enables them to dominate possession in most matches. It will be interesting to see if Jardine and his side press high up the field on Wednesday or not. The Crew have proven that they can play through pressing sides and the travel could have an effect on the ability for Las Aguillas to press for 90 minutes. Regardless, don’t be surprised to see América apply pressure high up the field, even if only for brief periods of time on Wednesday.

How the Crew can win:

1. Dominate The Ball: Both Columbus and América are used to having the lionshare of possession. Thus, in matches when they don’t have the majority of the ball, both teams can look uncomfortable and lack attacking rhythm. The team that has the majority of possession on Wednesday will have a huge leg up on their opponents and likely take the trophy.
2. No Giveaways at the Back: The Crew have had a tendency to give up sloppy goals off of turnovers in their defensive third. While the Crew have been able to overcome these mistakes, it would be much harder to do so against Club América.
3. Finish Chances: The Crew are lethal in front of goal. Anybody who has watched them recently will agree that the large part of chances being created are being converted. The Crew need to continue to be clinical in front of goal, especially against high level opposition like Club América.