Cruz Azul thrashed the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 on Sunday night at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario in the final of the Concacaf Champions Cup to lift the trophy for a record-tying seventh time.
First-half goals from Ignacio Rivero, Lorenzo Faravelli, Ángel Sepúlveda and Mateusz Bogusz put the result out of sight for the Liga MX side with a 4-0 lead at the break.
“There are many tournaments where we were almost champions, but we just couldn’t get it right,” said Cruz Azul’s Rodolfo Rotondi after the match. “Today we played with blood in our eyes, we didn’t give anything away, a spectacular first half, and then we maintained our spirit, we kept attacking. It was an important display of character from this team.”
Cruz Azul had four shots on goal in the first half and scored on all of them. La Máquina took advantage of a defensive lapse by the Whitecaps and Rivero coolly finished with his left foot in the seventh minute in front of the raucous home fans.
Faravelli’s goal came after a similar defensive lapse, struck from distance and went into the net after hitting the post. After Sepúlveda’s sliding goal in the 37th, Bogusz added a goal in the 45th just before half-time.
The Whitecaps were without 2024-25 talisman Sebastian Berhalter, who was out due to yellow card accumulation, and the rout continued in the second half with Sepúlveda heading home his second goal of the night minutes after the restart.
With the crowd already celebrating, Cruz Azul manager Vicente Sánchez began to rotate out his top players and despite several good chances down the stretch the hosts did not add to their lead.
It was Cruz Azul goalkeeper Kevin Mier’s fourth clean sheet of the tournament and he won the Golden Glove for his efforts. The Whitecaps had no shots on goal during the match.
Cruz Azul is now tied with Club América, which it beat on the way to the final, for the most titles in the history of the competition with seven, and Sepúlveda secured the Golden Boot in this season’s Champions Cup with his two goals giving him nine for the campaign.
Despite its historical domination of the competition, it was the first trophy for Cruz Azul in Concacaf’s elite club tournament since 2013-14.
“[I’m} happy because the people support us, see what’s happening now in the stadium and how the people are, how they’re experiencing it, and as I just said to my family, my wife, my friend who were also there,” Rotondi added. “Hopefully, hopefully it’s the start of another title, but now it’s time to enjoy this one.”
The result ends an admirable run for Vancouver in the Champions Cup, despite the Canadian side coming up short in its quest for a first title in the competition and a first for an MLS team since the Seattle Sounders won it in 2022. The Whitecaps are in the midst of a stellar season in MLS, sitting atop the Western Conference with 32 points from 15 games.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this recap.
