Monterrey played the second leg of a round of 16 CONCACAF Champions Cup matchup against FC Cincinnati this Thursday, March 14, at the Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, Mexico.

The first leg of this matchup in Cincinnati ended in a 1-0 win for Monterrey in a game where Brandon Vazquez scored the winner against his former team.

In this return leg, Luis Romo opened the scoring in the 41st minute with an extraordinary flicked shot in front of the visitor’s net. Monterrey was the much better team in the first half of the match, but Cincinnati was still very much alive and proved that at the start of the second half with a goal by Luciano Acosta in the 47th minute.

The Argentine midfielder dribbled and weaved his way past the entire Monterrey defense and fired a well-located shot that found the bottom left corner of the net. Rayados still had the slight advantage on the aggregate scoreline and Brandon Vazquez came through again against his former team in the 67th minute to make it a 2-1 lead for the home side.

Maxi Meza found Vazquez alone in front of net and the Chula Vista native had no problem taking advantage of the scoring opportunity to give Monterrey the 3-1 lead on aggregate. The second half was very hard-fought, but Rayados held on to the lead and, with this result, are now in the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals.

Brandon Vazquez is him. 👏 pic.twitter.com/q1ygaz87bz

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 15, 2024

Monterrey will face the very high-profile Inter Miami in the Champions Cup quarterfinals but will have the home-field advantage with the series closing out at the Estadio BBVA.

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba have all been in top form to start out the season for Miami, and this will surely be an incredibly hard-fought clash in this international competition. David Beckham’s team is coming off a 3-1 win against Nashville in the Champions Cup round of 16, where Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez both had a goal and an assist in the game.

Monterrey has historically faced top competition like these players in the Club World Cup, and it will be interesting to see how Rayados fare against a star-studded Inter-Miami side. Brandon Vazquez currently leads Monterrey with three goals scored in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, and he has also scored an additional five goals in Liga MX play.

Monterrey’s next game will be this Sunday, March 17, against Atlas at the Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

Francisco Velasco

Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.