Concacaf Champions League: Orlando City vs Tigres UANL (Round of 16, First Leg)
When: Tuesday, 9 p.m. ET
Where: INTER&Co Stadium, Orlando, FL
TV: FS2, TUDN USA
Radio: Real Radio 104.1, (English)
Everything you need to know for Orlando City's Round of 16 match in the Concacaf Champions League in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- Facundo Torres is two goals away from tying Nani (31) for second all-time in Orlando City history.
- Pedro Gallese’s next appearance will be his 125th in club history. Gallese holds club records in GK appearances, saves (350), and clean sheets (36).
- Luis Muriel’s next assist will be the 75th of his club career. Muriel picked up his 74th assist in his Orlando City debut last Tuesday, providing the pass for Nico Lodeiro’s first goal as a Lion.
Stats & Storylines
-Orlando City is looking to bounce back from a rough defeat, a 5-0 loss away to Inter Miami on Saturday. It was the fourth five-goal defeat in club history. The Lions fell 5-0 to Toronto in 2015, 6-1 to Philadelphia on Decision Day 2017, and 5-0 to NYCFC in 2021.
- Orlando earned a result in their next game following each of their previous five-goal defeats. They drew their next game in 2015, drew in the 2018 season opener, and won 3-2 at home to Atlanta after the NYC loss in 2021.
- City will instead look to find the form that led them to a 6-1 aggregate win over Cavalry FC in the first round of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup. Five different Lions found the back of the net across the two legs – Facundo Torres had a brace, while Duncan McGuire, Nico Lodeiro (his first for Orlando), Ramiro Enrique, and Kyle Smith also scored.
- Tuesday’s game will mark City’s fifth game in 15 days to begin the season. The Lions will go on to play seven times in 22 days by the middle of next week, with a league game at home to Minnesota on Saturday and the away leg at El Volcán the following Tuesday.
- Orlando City is 1-1-2 all-time against Liga MX competition. In addition to last year’s pair of draws against Tigres in this competition, the Lions have split two matches with Santos Laguna, falling 1-0 to the Torreón-based side in the 2021 Leagues Cup before winning 3-2 in last year’s expanded edition of that tournament.
- The winner of Orlando/Tigres is guaranteed to face MLS competition in the quarterfinals; Houston Dynamo vs. Columbus Crew is the other tie in this quadrant of the bracket. Houston defeated St. Louis CITY on away goals (2-2 on aggregate) in the first round, while Columbus received a bye to the quarterfinals thanks to winning MLS Cup.
Series History
All-time vs. Tigres UANL - 0-0-2, 0 GD (0-0-1, 0 GD home)
- 2023 - D 0-0 (A), D 1-1 (H)
Meet the opponent: Tigres UANL
- Orlando City and Tigres met in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16, fighting to a 1-1 aggregate draw. Tigres scored their goal in Orlando, though, and thus advanced in the competition on the away goals tiebreaker.
- Tigres reached this year’s Round of 16 by defeating Vancouver Whitecaps 4-1 on aggregate in their first round matchup. The Mexican side drew 1-1 in Canada before winning 3-0 at El Volcán. André-Pierre Gignac scored in the away leg, while Luis Quiñones, Ozziel Herrera, and Juan Pablo Vigón found the net in Monterrey.
- Tigres won the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League, coming from behind to defeat LAFC 2-1 in the final. That match actually took place at Inter&Co Stadium, which served as a neutral host site to limit travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Mexican international midfielder Sebastián Córdova scored Tigres’ goal in last year’s matchup at Inter&Co Stadium, while Ercan Kara (since transferred to Turkey) picked up Orlando’s goal with an overhead kick. Córdova was sent off in the first half of Tigres’ Liga MX game at Toluca on Saturday, but he will be eligible to face Orlando since that red card occurred in a different competition.
-Tigres’ star player is French forward Gignac, still one of the top players in North America at 38 years old. Gignac has 144 goals and 34 assists in 254 Liga MX games for Tigres, with 12 G/4 A in 20 appearances in the 2023/24 season. Gignac is second in Liga MX in goals for the season despite playing fewer minutes than all but two of the top 10 players in the Golden Boot race.
- Gignac did not feature in the Orlando home game last year due to his COVID-19 vaccine status. He was nearly sent off in the away leg, but VAR swapped his red card for yellow just before halftime.
- Other top players for Tigres include Uruguayan international midfielder Fernando Gorriarán, Argentine striker Nico Ibáñez, Colombian winger Quiñones, and veteran goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán.
- Through 27 games between the 2023 Apertura and the 2024 Clausura, Tigres has a +21 goal differential and a 13-5-9 record.
