Well, what do you know. In the blink of an eye, the first matchweek of the Vancouver Whitecaps’ 2024 season is upon us.

Although it’s in rather unorthodox circumstances, Vancouver will begin their CONCACAF Champion Cup campaign on Wednesday night at Starlight Stadium, in the first of a home and away tie with Mexican side Tigres UANL.

The last time these two sides faced off against each other in CONCACAF play was in 2017, though the two sides did meet last season in Leagues Cup action, where Tigres got the better of Vancouver 5-3 on penalty kicks, after playing out a 1-1 draw over the course of 90 minutes.

One of the key storylines going into this match has to be the drastic difference in terms of preparation and phase of schedule that each of these clubs find themselves in at the moment. While the Whitecaps have yet to play a competitive match in 2024, Tigres are off to an impressive start to the Clausura in Liga MX play. They are undefeated through five matches (3 wins, 2 draws), including victories over Leon and Chivas to open their 2024 Calendar.

Back at the end of 2023, Tigres made the Apertura finals against Club America, but lost to their rivals in crushing fashion, conceding three goals in extra-time of the second leg after a crucial red card saw them go down to ten men, eventually falling 4-1 on aggregate. Impressively though, Tigres have only 2 losses (including the second-leg defeat to America in the Apertura finals) in their last 20 matches, which spans all the way back to September 17th of last year.

In terms of players to watch for Tigres, the ageless wonder André-Pierre Gignac is still getting it done up front, albeit in pretty limited minutes, as he has 10 goals and 4 assists in 16 matches played over the aggregate Liga MX calendar. With Gignac getting fewer starts, 29-year-old Argentine striker Nicolás Ibáñez has stepped into a bigger role, with 8 goals and 4 assists on the season. He’s also coming off a brace in Tigres’ most recent match, a 2-2 draw with Pumas.

Goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán also remains a key part of the Tigres fabric, sweeping aggressively and being a constant source of irritation for opposition players, in addition to his strong shot-stopping abilities, even as a 37-year-old. In terms of tactics, Tigres has most recently set up in either a 5-4-1 or 5-3-2 formation, although they did open the Clausura in a 4-1-4-1 setup when Gignac was starting up front. No matter what shape Tigres elect to play, veteran Brazilian Rafael Carioca is the key creative cog in the centre of midfield, as the Mexican side is usually quite fluid around him, especially in wide areas.

Last but not least, Tigres took a big swing in the most recent transfer window, adding winger/attacking midfielder Juan Brunetta from fellow Liga MX side Santos Laguna for a fee of around 6 million dollars. The 26-year-old already has 1 goal and 2 assists in his 5 matches for Tigres, while he recorded 10 goals and 11 assists in 20 matches for Santos in their Apertura campaign. With an aging but still very competitive roster, Brunetta might be exactly what Tigres need to push them over the hump and earn themselves some hardware this season.

Turning our attention to the Vancouver Whitecaps, I think it almost goes without saying that this is going to be an uphill battle. If the Whitecaps were in the prime of mid-season form, an opponent such as Tigres would still be a big challenge, but not one that would be unmanageable given the quality Vancouver has shown. That being said, the lack of competitive matches, coupled with some key absences, is likely to present some real challenges for Vancouver.

Chiefly, it will be interesting to see how Vancouver manages their midfield without the likes of Ali Ahmed, and possibly Pedro Vite. (As of Tuesday afternoon, Andres Cubas has also been listed as out for Wednesday night.) Vite has only just returned to the team after playing for Ecuador and although in theory, he could feature, I don’t think it makes much sense (certainly not to start) given his travel and lack of prep time in Vancouver. Meanwhile, given Ahmed’s recent surgery, Vanni Sartini will have to plan for life without the Canadian youngster for at least the first month of the MLS season. This places more pressure on recent additions Fafa Picualt and Damir Kreilach to hit the ground running for the blue and white.

Another area of intrigue is what Vancouver plans to do in the absence of Richie Laryea (who is back with Forrest) and Sam Adekugbe (whose minutes are being managed to start the season). When these two teams played in Leagues Cup action last year, we saw Ryan Raposo and Seb Berhalter play in wide roles, but with tweaks to the formation throughout the preseason, could we see a new approach on Wednesday? The lineup selection at these positions was all over the place during the preseason, so there are still a lot of unknowns in terms of the roles and personnel to be deployed in wide areas. The narrow pitch at Starlight Stadium could also be a factor.

Elsewhere on the squad, there is less intrigue, as Brian White and Ryan Gauld will continue to hold things down for Vancouver up front, while Yohei Takaoka and a back three of Mathias Laborda, Ranko Veselinovic, and Tristan Blackmon will try to build on the positive moments they had at the end of last season, at least until newcomer Bjørn Inge Utvik is ready to make his mark on the backline. Sartini did note on Tuesday that we should expect the Whitecaps to use their substitutions prominently in this match, so we should see an adaptable Whitecaps team over the course of the 90+ minutes.

All in all, Vanni Sartini’s comments heading into this match have made it pretty clear that any result Vancouver can get out of this competition will be seen as a bonus rather than a requirement. Given the way the draw materialized, it’s more important for Vancouver to have optimal preparation for the MLS season than it is for them to throw everything at a CONCACAF campaign.

Ideally, Vancouver will be able to test some of their new players and tactics against one of the best teams in North America, giving Tigres everything they can handle at Starlight Stadium on Wednesday night. Ultimately, being on level terms heading into the second leg would be a fantastic result. However, I think it might be a case of “too much too soon” for the Whitecaps at the moment, so I’m predicting a 2-1 loss for Vancouver to open the 2024 season.

Image Credit: Vancouver Whitecaps FC & Tigres UANL