Caleb Porter hopes to 'build confidence' against Cruz Azul in Campeones Cup final
Columbus Crew faces Liga MX side Cruz Azul on Wednesday at Lower.com Field for the Campeones Cup final, a match that head coach Caleb Porter claims would allow the team to develop even more confidence.
The Major League Soccer side sit in ninth place in the Eastern Conference table with 34 points in 27 games. While they’ve produced positive results in their last three matches, the Ohio-based team is still two spots away from qualifying to the 2021 MLS playoffs.
With only seven regular-season games remaining, Porter thinks the confrontation against Cruz Azul could provide the momentum needed to finish their 2021 MLS campaign strong.
“We're building confidence and momentum. We've won our last three home games. We feel like we're playing better and better,” said Porter. “So this would allow us to develop even more confidence. Beating a team the caliber of Cruz Azul, one of the most talented and dangerous teams in Liga MX, would give us more confidence, give us experience. It also allows us to try a few different things as well and see how guys perform.”
Cruz Azul, on the other hand, stand in seventh place of the Liga MX table after only one victory in their last five games, but their recent results can be deceiving.
“They're, a little bit, off to a slow start in their league, similar to what we've gone through, but it's going to be an exciting game, hopefully, for everyone to watch, and we know what's at stake. We're going to throw everything into this game,” said Porter.
“There's a reason they won Liga MX last season. they're a team that plays very vertical. They're a team that will press very high, they're aggressive in transitions. They're flexible tactically, they can change into different shapes. It's a hard team to read from the standpoint of personnel and system because they're very flexible in their formations and they change in-game many times.”
The Campeones Cup was established in 2018 as a one-match event that features the MLS Cup winner against the reigning Liga MX champion.