When Seattle Sounders FC host Pumas UNAM in the Leagues Cup Round of 16, it will be a rematch of the 2022 Concacaf Champions League final.
And while some of the faces have changed from both sides, the Rave Green's motivation comes from the chance to achieve something the club hasn't before.
“Our club is a big club, we’re a proud club," Seattle head coach Brian Schmetzer said before Monday's elimination match at Lumen Field (10:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass; FS1, UniMás, TUDN).
"We certainly have won Cascadia Cups, Open Cups, MLS Cups, Supporters' Shield, Concacaf Champions League. Leagues Cup, we have not made it there yet. It's still something that we can go after.
“And I can challenge these guys to say, 'Hey, you will be the first group from the Seattle Sounders to actually succeed in winning Leagues Cup, which is a hard tournament.' It's a very hard tournament.”
New-look Pumas
That was also the case in 2022, when Seattle became MLS' first modern-day champion in the prestigious continental tournament. They did so via a 5-2 aggregate win in the two-legged series.
While Pumas have experienced significantly more turnover than Seattle, both in terms of roster and technical staff, it's still a difficult LIGA MX opponent. Schmetzer highlighted wingers César Huerta and Jorge Ruvalcaba as particularly dangerous.
"It is a different Pumas team, but that's a proud club and a good club,” Schmetzer said.
"Scouting some of the games that they've played, beating Monterrey was a big performance. The game against Vancouver, Vancouver's not an easy place to play. So it's a very good team."
The Sounders booked their Round-of-16 spot with a 3-1 victory over the LA Galaxy after defenders Alex Roldan, Yeimar Gómez Andrade and Jackson Ragen scored first-half goals.
Up for the challenge
For Ragen, the experience of playing in the CCL final was hugely beneficial. Schmetzer said the same is true for backup goalkeeper Andrew Thomas, who has started each of Seattle’s three matches in this competition.
“Jackson got better because of those experiences and Andrew is getting better because of these opportunities that I've given him," Schmetzer said.
Schmetzer acknowledged striker Raúl Ruidíaz, who has missed the Sounders' first three games of Leagues Cup due to injury, has trained well and could play a part in this clash of titans.
“He's ready to play,” Schmetzer said. “He will be on the bench. And I won't hesitate to use him.”
The Sounders enter this match in a strong run of form, going 9W-2L-1D across all competitions since mid-June.
“Earlier in the year we were shooting ourselves in the foot. And it's not all one player’s fault but [Ragen] made a couple of mistakes and it cost us or Yeimar would make a mistake or someone else, Stef Frei would make a mistake. And it seemed to catch up to us," Schmetzer said.
"Now I think we're limiting our mistakes. Teams are still going to create chances against us, but we're limiting the mistakes that give them easy chances. And I think the team is full of confidence.”
