{"id":59614,"date":"2025-06-02T04:40:22","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T03:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?p=59614"},"modified":"2025-06-02T04:40:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T03:40:29","slug":"cruz-azul-thrash-vancouver-whitecaps-5-0-in-concacaf-champions-cup-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/cruz-azul-thrash-vancouver-whitecaps-5-0-in-concacaf-champions-cup-final\/","title":{"rendered":"Cruz Azul Thrash Vancouver Whitecaps 5\u20130 in CONCACAF Champions Cup Final"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Cruz Azul delivered a masterclass on Saturday night at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario as they thrashed Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0. The commanding win in the final led Cruz Azul to their seventh CONCACAF Champions Cup title, tying them with arch-rivals Club America for the most titles in the competition&rsquo;s history.<\/p><p>From the first whistle, it was clear that Cruz Azul came with intent as Vancouver were never allowed to settle in the game. Just eight minutes in, Ignacio Rivero capitalised on a sloppy defensive giveaway and calmly slotted home the opener. Things went from bad to worse for the Canadian side in the 28th minute, as Lorenzo Faravelli intercepted a wayward pass from Andres Cubas. Faravelli took a few strides forward and then smashed a superb strike off the inside of the post to double Cruz Azul&rsquo;s lead.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">CRUZ AZUL ES CAMPE&Oacute;N DE CONCACAF. <br>LLEG&Oacute; LA S&Eacute;PTIMAAAAAAAAA &#128153; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zaiAzWfS5d\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/zaiAzWfS5d<\/a><\/p>&mdash; CRUZ AZUL (@CruzAzul) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CruzAzul\/status\/1929377262706549129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>June 2, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>By the 37th minute, Angel Sepulveda made it 3-0 with a close-range finish from a pinpoint cross, effectively putting the game to bed. Just at the end of first-half, Mateusz Bogusz got in on the act. Picking up a poor clearance on the edge of the area, he curled a beautiful effort into the far corner to make it 4-0. <\/p><p>Vancouver&rsquo;s poor performance continued in the second-half. Five minutes into the second half, Sepulveda headed home to complete his brace and make it 5-0. Sepulveda finished the competition&rsquo;s top scorer with nine goals.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Whitecaps Outclassed in Every Department<\/h2><p>Vancouver Whitecaps failed to register a single shot in the game and were thoroughly outclassed in every department. They managed just 32% possession and 268 passes compared to Cruz Azul&rsquo;s 68% and 549 passes. The absence of suspended midfielder Sebastian Berhalter proved costly as the Whitecaps struggled to create anything meaningful going forward. His role as a connector in the midfield was sorely missed, especially against Cruz Azul&rsquo;s relentless pressure.<\/p><p>Cruz Azul nearly grabbed a sixth in the 69th minute after a mistake from Vancouver keeper Yohei Takaoka. However, Ranko Veselinovic spared further embarrassment with a headed clearance as he cleared Giakoumakis&rsquo;s lob off the line.<\/p><p><\/p>\n<div class=\"mm-layout mm-layout-type-post mm-layout-slot4\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vancouver Whitecaps failed to register a single shot in the game and were thoroughly outclassed in every department.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mux_skip_reasons":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[4039,4038],"tags":[5015,4553,6440,4114],"class_list":["post-59614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mls-soccer","category-soccer","tag-concacaf","tag-concacaf-champions-cup","tag-cruz-azul","tag-vancouver-whitecaps"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cruz Azul Thrash Vancouver Whitecaps 5&ndash;0 in CONCACAF Champions Cup Final - 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