It’s not a typo; The s is very real.
The Leagues Cup -- not the League Cup -- is the new competition pitting Major League Soccer sides against some of the top sides from Mexico’s Liga MX.
The tournament has been expanded before it’s even seen a ball kicked in competition, as the second edition with go from eight to 16 teams.
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For now, though, we’ve got four American and four Mexican sides meeting over the next two months in a bid for North American supremacy not unlike a CONCACAF Champions League stripped of all the minnows.
Much like the CCL, the Mexican sides will be expected to triumph, even with all of the quarterfinals being staged in the United States.
Chicago Fire hosts Cruz Azul on Tuesday, followed by the LA Galaxy’s visit from Club Tijuana.
Wednesday will see the Houston Dynamo host Club America, and Tigres UANL at Real Salt Lake.
The winners meet Aug. 20, while the final will be played Sept. 18 in Las Vegas.
There’s a lot of promise in this, and it gives MLS another chance to make some statements about the distance between it and Liga MX. The Mexican sides have flat out dominated the CCL, and it’s not difficult to make the same prediction for this tournament.
But, like many tournaments, it also gives success-starved clubs a chance to give their fans something big and their players a tonic. For Bastian Schweinsteiger’s Chicago, for one, it’s a huge opportunity. And for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the Galaxy, it’s a look toward another piece of silverware for one of the world’s biggest trophy cases.
