Nashville SChad the right answers at the right moments all throughout its CONCACAF Champions Cup run.
Cristian Espinoza's goal in the 74th minute of the second leg against Inter Miami and Lionel Messiput Nashville into the quarterfinals. Hany Mukhtarscored in the 51st minuteagainst Club América as NSC advanced to the semifinals and became the first MLS team to win at the historic Estadio Azteca.
Nashville's CCC success came not through pure dominance like itsrecord start in MLS play, but instead by a formula of stout defense and opportunistic attacking. In its semifinal series against Tigres UANL, however, the thin margins needed to make that formula work disappeared.
Tigreswon the second leg1-0 on May 5 at Estadio Universitario in San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico, eliminating Nashville from North America's top continental competition. Nashville lost the series 2-0 on aggregate, failing to register a single shot on goal in Mexico.
"There's pain, there's anger," said Nashville SC coach B.J. Callaghan. "It's not the result that we wanted to get. But at the same time, when you set out big, ambitious goals like we did as a club and as a team for this year, you inherently understand that setbacks could be part of that."
The setbacks started coming for Nashville as soon as the series started. Forward Sam Surridge missed both games due to aback injury, and midfielder Eddi Tagsethhurt his legearly in the first leg at Geodis Park. Midfielder Patrick Yazbek joined Surridge and Tagseth on the shelf when he got injured in warmups at El Volcán, forcing Callaghan to insert Bryan Acosta into the starting lineup just minutes before kickoff.
"In terms the original game plan, I wouldn't say we really changed much," Callaghan said. "You saw Bryan come in a really difficult situation, but embrace next man up, and I thought he put in a pretty good performance."
Advertisement
MORE:Shorthanded Nashville SC ties Philadelphia Union 0-0 on the road
Nashville played well on defense but in similar fashion to the first leg, couldn't create more than half-chances when it got the ball in Tigres' half. Tigres began to open up the game midway through the second half, with a slew of transition opportunities eventually culminating in Juan Brunetta's 68th-minute goal.
"We were planning right at that point in time to make a second substitution, right before we conceded," Callaghan said. "But we knew that was time to really push and be even more aggressive."
Instead, Nashville looked out of steam. It overcame the greatest player of all time and 7,200 feet above sea level to reach the semifinals, but in Tigres, it finally met its match.
There's still plenty to play for in 2026, as Nashville leads the Eastern Conference and will have another opportunity for a trophy in this summer's Leagues Cup. The first priority for Callaghan is making sure his team gets healthy. Then they'll try to refuel for the rest of the season.
"I think what we learned from this team is that it's a team that's going to compete for the end, they're going to compete for each other," Callaghan said. "... The goals don't change, the mentality doesn't change. We'll get back on Thursday, and we'll be continuing to stay just as hungry as we were starting this tournament."
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on X/Twitter@Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean:How Nashville SC lost to Tigres UANL to end CONCACAF Champions Cup run
0 Comments