Preview, prediction for FC Cincinnati's high-profile clash with Liga MX's CF Monterrey

In 2023, FC Cincinnati's players and top brass were cagey about committing to specific on-field aims. Subjects such as the Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup were virtually no-go topics discussed inside the Mercy Health Training Center.

One thing FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan was never shy about discussing was the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It would be, as Noonan described, an important measuring stick and proving ground − if FCC could qualify for the tournament based on sporting merit, which is the only way to get in.

Well, FC Cincinnati did get in and after advancing in a first-round romp, which crowns a club champion for North and Central American, and the Caribbean, FCC gets its first-ever shot to truly prove itself on the international stage.

FC Cincinnati and Mexican giant and league-leaders, CF Monterrey, meet in the Champions Cup's Round of 16. On Thursday at TQL Stadium, they'll commence a two-match, home-and-away, aggregate-score series that projects as one of the marquee matchups of the entire tournament.

It doesn't get much bigger than this. Monterrey, a five-time Champions Cup winner and the current No. 1-ranked club in the CONCACAF region, will be opposed by an FC Cincinnati side that's a relative upstart in the grand scheme of CONCACAF but is still the defending Shield winner, an MLS Cup Eastern Conference finalist, and the No. 12-ranked CONCACAF club.

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The teams' meeting in Cincinnati is the opening "leg" of the two-game set. The clubs will then reconvene in Monterrey March 14 for the second and decisive match at Monterrey's scenic, 50,000-plus capacity BBVA Stadium. With away goals serving as a tiebreaker, the team with the higher combined score over the game games will progress in the Cup.

"They're really good," Noonan said during his pre-match news conference on Wednesday. "They're sitting atop Liga MX with Pachuca, Cruz Azul and undefeated. They're just well-balanced. I think they have really good experience from the goalkeeper position in (Esteban) Andrada to Hector Moreno, who we've watched all the way back from our time when I was working with U.S. Soccer and we were preparing for (World Cup) qualifying.

"(Jesús) Gallardo on the left, excellent, excellent play with excellent wide delivery. ... There's a lot of names. There's a reason they're at the top. Individual quality (and) collective quality. A team that can beat you in different ways."

Here are the storylines to watch in the Cincinnati-Monterrey series:

The return of Brandon Vazquez to TQL Stadium

When FC Cincinnati sold Brandon Vazquez, the club's all-time leading goal-scorer, to Monterrey in January for at least $7.5 million, FCC had no idea they'd encounter Vazquez again so soon. Nor did Cincinnati's personnel decision makers realize Vazquez would be opposing Cincinnati in its first-ever continental tournament.

But fate intervened and brought Vazquez back together with FC Cincinnati, the club that nurtured and supported him, and later enjoyed the beginnings of his meteoric rise in the game.

Unfortunately for Cincinnati, which worked so diligently to help make Vazquez the player he is today, Vazquez might be the hottest player in the entire CONCACAF region at the moment. He's leading an undefeated Monterrey side in the Liga MX Clausura and has six goals in just 10 appearances across all competitions. It's the best run of form Vazquez has enjoyed since his 20-goal (all competitions), MLS All-Star season in Cincinnati in 2022.

The reunion with Vazquez promises to be an emotional and meaningful one after he played a significant role in turning FC Cincinnati from perennial last-place finisher to Shield-winner in 2023.

Still, FCC can't let its affection cause them to lose sight of what's most important. Vazquez appears very capable of doing real damage to his former club, and he won't hesitate to do it.

"We've been watching (Monterrey) because, from afar, you're rooting for success for Brandon because of what a great part of our history he was and what a great person he is," Noonan said. "When we were away in preseason watching their games, it was great watching his production and the immediate impact (he had). Yeah, when you walk out there (Thursday), maybe it's interesting to see him on the other side of things but what I think you're going to see is a nice embrace from a lot of his teammates and coaches at the right times, and both teams going to compete.

"Maybe having a chat afterward. It doesn't feel that strange. I think it's just exciting for us being able to match up against a top team with him on it."

With away goals serving as a tiebreaker in Champions Cup play, it will be essential to FC Cincinnati's hopes in this series that they limit Monterrey and Vazquez Thursday at TQL Stadium. If Monterrey runs up a big lead with away goals in Cincinnati, the series could be over before it even reaches the second leg in Monterrey.

FCC's first big test of 2024

Monterrey is the only undefeated team remaining in the Liga MX Clausura (6-4-0) and is the joint-leader in this portion of the Mexican top-flight season. Monterrey also quickly dispatched Comunicaciones (Guatemala) in the first round of the Champions Cup, so they've basically passed every early test they've faced in 2024.

By contrast, FC Cincinnati's played just four competitive games this year. The likes of Cavalier FC of Jamaica, plus MLS sides Toronto FC and Chicago Fire FC, while challenging in their respective ways, don't really measure up to the kind of challenge Monterrey presents. Few if any MLS sides can match the star-power and general aura of Monterrey in general.

Suffice it to say this Champions Cup series represents one of the biggest challenges in FC Cincinnati's shorter but growing history, regardless of the stage of the season and the tournament. The fact that this caliber of opponent is arriving in the first week of March will also make it a test of FC Cincinnati's early-season fitness and cohesion, which could be a deciding factor given the offseason roster turnover FCC is combating.

Is this match arriving too early in FC Cincinnati's campaign? Would a few additional weeks of prep have brought FCC's level closer to that of Monterrey? We'll have clear answers as to whether these factors are consequential to facing Monterrey in about a week.

"It's just good to be playing top teams in tournament play," Noonan said Wednesday when asked if the Round of 16 was too early for a one-versus-12 matchup in Champions Cup. "It's not too early and for us specifically, it's a good early test to see what some of our new faces look like against top competition and what the group looks like as we continue to evolve and grow together."

FC Cincinnati reinforces its back line with DeAndre Yedlin

FC Cincinnati's busied itself with significant personnel additions since Vazquez departed the club. There's still a push to find a like-for-like replacement for Vazquez, or something close to it, but the latest addition was on the defensive side as FCC traded with Inter Miami CF for right back DeAndre Yedlin.

Yedlin might not be a featured player in the match at TQL Stadium against Monterrey, but he should be ready for significant minutes by the second leg. It's worth noting Noonan said Wednesday that Yedlin would play a role in Thursday's match. What that looks like is to be determined.

More: FC Cincinnati introduces DeAndre Yedlin during busy early-season period

The game

Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET, Thursday | TQL Stadium, Cincinnati

Broadcast: FS2; ESPN 1530 (radio)

All-time series: This is the first-ever meeting between the clubs. Thursday's game is the first of two they'll play in the Champions Cup Round of 16.

Cincinnati.com prediction: CF Monterrey 2, FC Cincinnati 1.

FC Cincinnati

Record (MLS): 1-0-1, Four points. (2-0-0 versus Cavalier FC in Champions Cup).

Goals for: Two.

Goals against: One.

Head coach: Pat Noonan, third season as head coach

Projected starting XI: Roman Celentano, goalkeeper; Yuya Kubo, left wing back; Ian Murphy, center back; Matt Miazga, center back; Miles Robinson, center back; Alvas Powell, right wing back; Obinna Nwobodo, midfielder; Pavel Bucha, midfielder; Luciano Acosta, midfielder; Corey Baird, forward; Aaron Boupendza, forward.

CF Monterrey

Regular season record: 6-4-0, 22 points; first place in Liga MX (2-0-0 in Champions Cup vs. Comunicaciones).

Goals for: 19.

Goals against: Six.

Head coach: Fernando Ortiz

Projected starting XI: Esteban Andrada (GK), Érick Aguirre (right back), Víctor Guzmán (center back), Héctor Moreno (center back), Jesús Gallardo (left back), Jesús Corona (midfielder/winger)), Jorge Rodríguez (midfielder), Maximiliano Meza (midfielder/winger), Germán Berterame (forward), Brandon Vazquez (forward).

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Preview, prediction for FC Cincinnati's clash with CF Monterrey