Cruz Azul 5–0 Vancouver Whitecaps: Player Ratings as La Maquina Win Concacaf Champions Cup in Dominant Fashion

Sports Illustrated FC

·2. Juni 2025

Cruz Azul 5–0 Vancouver Whitecaps: Player Ratings as La Maquina Win Concacaf Champions Cup in Dominant Fashion

Cruz Azul entered the match as favorites and left no questions in their 5–0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps to secure their seventh Concacaf Champions Cup title and first since 2014.

Nearly 1,000 Whitecaps fans made the trip to the Estadio Universitario Olímpico in Mexico City for their club’s first Concacaf Champions Cup Final. Yet, their hopes waned before the halftime whistle, with the home side going up 3–0 by the 37th minute, adding a fourth before the break.

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Ignacio Rivero opened the scoring for Cruz Azul in the 8th minute, finishing a chance past Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka, after the visitors failed to play the ball out of the back. La Maquina made it 2-0 in the 28th minute, when Lorenzo Faravelli smashed a long strike into the goal after Andres Cubas lost the ball in midfield.

The onslaught continued for Cruz Azul, adding goals from Mateusz Bogusz and Angel Sepúlveda in the 37th and 45th minutes, effectively sealing the Champions Cup title before halftime. Sepúlveda added a second to make it 5–0 in the 50th minute.

By the start of the second half, Cruz Azul supporters chanted “olé” while their defenders played around the Whitecaps’ press, and urged their team on to five, then six, goals and an even more dominant win.

Despite having navigated their way through tense moments throughout the tournament, Vancouver appeared unprepared for the intensity of the final, falling victim to poor turnovers and a Cruz Azul front trio that cashed in on each of their chances.

Throughout the match, the Whitecaps proved unable to play to their usual strengths. Brian White, entered the game with 15 goals in 21 matches in all competitions was left isolated in hold-up play as a striker, while the midfield struggled to progress out of their own half.

At the same time, the quick exchanges on the wings that have defined the Whitecaps in head coach Jesper Sørensen’s first season fell short, with the right side trio of Ali Ahmed, Pedro Vite and Édier Ocampo unable to linkup.

Cruz Azul led Vancouver 8–0 on shots after 90 minutes, and held 69 percent of the possession in one of the most dominant victories in Concacaf Champions Cup history.

While altitude likely played a factor, Cruz Azul proved to simply be the better team on the day and executed perfectly against a Whitecaps side that struggled to find their footing.

With the loss, the Whitecaps became the third Canadian team to lose a Concacaf final, joining Toronto FC’s 2018 loss and CF Montréals in 2015. Meanwhile, the 2022 Seattle Sounders remain the only MLS team to win since the LA Galaxy lifted the trophy in 2000.

While the Whitecaps move to focusing on maintaining their lead atop the MLS Western Conference, Cruz Azul end their 2024–25 season with a trophy and on a positive note, after crashing out of the Liga MX playoffs in the semifinal to their rivals Club América.