Columbus Crew enter the 2025 Leagues Cup tournament looking to defend their title from last year, but will have to face different challenges to do so.
The Crew will have to take a different path through this year's League's Cup if they are to repeat their 2024 victory.
The third edition of Leagues Cup kicks off on July 29 with the Crew hosting Toluca FC, who won the Liga MX 2025 Clausura title. This matchup marks the first of the Crew's three group-stage games, all of which are against Liga MX teams.
Last year, the Crew earned an automatic bye into the round of 16 as the 2023 MLS Cup winners, and faced only MLS teams throughout the tournament, finishing with a 3-1 victory over Los Angeles FC in the final.
"We were lucky last year," Crew midfielder Dylan Chambost said. "This year will be different. As a player, you're always excited to play games, especially against Mexican teams. This will be my first game against a Mexican team. So, I'm excited, football is different there, it's always good to play a different style of football."
The biggest change to this year's tournament is that MLS teams will compete only against Liga MX teams during the group stage. A win in regulation counts for three points, and the top four teams from each league will advance to the knockout stage.
Unlike last year, the knockout stage begins with the quarterfinals on Aug. 19, 12 days after the end of group-stage play.
There is no league-wide pause for the knockout stage, as MLS and Liga MX regular-season play will resume on Aug. 9.
"We played the CONCACAF (Champions Cup), so this is similar," Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said. "I would say for the teams who don't play (in the tournament), this is an issue, because they have to watch us, and we're going to have more games."
The Crew is hosting all three of their scheduled group-stage games at Lower.com Field, despite Toluca being listed as the home team in the first matchup.
Of the 18 MLS teams and 18 Liga MX teams competing in the tournament, Toluca is ranked third overall, with the Crew fourth. The Crew are ranked higher than their following two group-stage opponents, Club Puebla (34) and Club Leon (27).
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: How 2025 Leagues Cup changes will impact Columbus Crew
Category: General Sports
