The Vancouver Whitecaps’ Leagues Cup campaign will come to a merciful end on Tuesday night in Monterrey, as the Caps make the journey to take on Tigres at El Volcan.

The Caps’ participation in Leagues Cup has not gone according to plan, with losses to Atlante and Juarez, both of whom sit near the bottom of the Clausura table, eliminating Vancouver from advancement even before they played their final game.

It is quite possible that the Caps wouldn’t have advanced anyway, as it is looking like nine points might be required to advance on a congested MLS side of the bracket. Tigres, however, will have plenty to play for — a win would likely see them go through, provided at least one of the four teams sitting in front of them loses on the final matchday.

Still, the performances in the two matches at BC Place have caused alarm in the fanbase, as they have stretched the Caps’ winless streak out to six matches. Not an ideal result for a team that is grappling with the departure of Sebastian Berhalter.

While Berhalter’s departure has been a problem during Leagues Cup, pretty much everything that could go wrong for the Caps has. Isaac Boehmer has looked rusty in goal, tinkering in the midfield has allowed teams to play direct, route one soccer right through the middle, and the finishing has been abysmal.

A date with Tigres will, naturally, not help with any of that. The Mexican giant has actually played a fairly first-choice XI in each of their first two matches, which ended in penalty shootout victories against RSL and Minnesota United. That means it is likely the Caps will face Rodrigo Aguirre, Juan Brunetta, Diego Lainez, and old friend Nahuel Guzman on Tuesday.

Tigres’ start to the Clausura has been rather poor, sandwiching a draw with Atletico San Luis in between losses to Tijuana and Queretaro. This is far from the Tigres side that thumped the Caps 3-0 at El Volcan the last time they met.

There is a world in which this was a big game, with both teams needing a result to advance, and we got Thomas Müller and Co. under the lights in a big match at one of Liga MX’s best places to play. Unfortunately for the bean counters at MLS, that won’t be the case.

While I doubt Jesper Sørensen goes as far as taking the entire Whitecaps 2 side to Mexico, we’ll see heavy, heavy rotation, given that this team is bruised and battered with injuries, and we’ve had scares with Brian White and Edier Ocampo already in this competition. Johnny Selemani already made his full first-team debut in this competition, and there might be more youngsters who get a shot as well. Veterans like Mathias Laborda, J.C. Ngando, and Sam Adekugbe may fill out the lineup to add some experience and, in the case of Adekugbe, build back to full fitness. But there is no way any starter should be anywhere near this match.

The Caps need a morale boost. They also have a lot of things to figure out in a post-Berhalter world. But none of that is likely to happen here. Success will be measured in making it through this one without any injuries and anything else will be a bonus to build confidence before Sunday’s Cascadia Cup tie.