Who’s ready for another memorable cup run?
On Tuesday night, the Columbus Crew begin their 2025 Leagues Cup campaign as the defending champions hoping to become the first-ever club to win back-to-back titles.
The format is different for the 2025 Leagues Cup, so make sure you get familiar with the new phases and all the ways the Crew can advance to the knockout stages.
But before looking ahead and thinking about more hardware, let’s get familiar with the clubs that Columbus will face in Leagues Cup Phase 1. Here’s a quick rundown on the three Liga MX sides coming to Lower.com.
Deportivo Toluca FC
Jul. 29 – 7 p.m. kickoff
Well, the Crew’s opening match of Leagues Cup could’ve been easier. Toluca enters the Ohio capital as the Liga MX Apertura leader, and it’s considered a Tier 1 club in the competition. (As are the Columbus Crew, Inter Miami CF and CF Monterrey.)
Unbeaten in its last eight matches across all competitions, Toluca has recently toppled North American powerhouse Club America, as well as Santos Laguna and Nexaxa.
Toluca is only two matches into the Apertura, so it’s somewhat hard to project key players, but keep an eye on Helinho, a Brazilian forward who has three goals and an assist through two games.
Mexico international Alexis Vega is also a Toluca player to watch. Vega, has 44 caps and seven goals for El Trí. He was also on the Mexican side that just won the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Club Puebla
Aug. 1 – 7 p.m. kickoff
Puebla lost its opening matches of the Apertura to Atlas and Mazatlán, and it’ll play New York City FC before arriving in Columbus. Unlike Toluca, which enters Leagues Cup with a good run of form, Puebla has struggled recently. Los Camoteros, the Sweet Potatoers, finished 17th in the Liga MX Clausura.
Emiliano Gómez is only 23, but he already has a cap for Diego Rossi’s Uruguay. He has one goal in two Apertura appearances, but he led Puebla with five goals during the Clausura. (Albeit in 25 appearances.)
Club León
Aug. 5 – 7:30 p.m. kickoff
León is a respected 10th to start the Apertura. Finishing sixth in the Clausura, this will be a challenging end to the Black & Gold’s Phase 1 trio of matches. The eight-time Liga MX champs won the 2023 Concacaf Champions League (now the Concacaf Champions Cup) and have several notable names.
The No. 10 James Rodríguez – yes, that James – is the headline player for León. The Colombian playmaker, who’s also played for Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Monaco and Everton, joined León earlier this year and has three goals in 19 appearances. When representing his country, he has 29 goals from 116 international appearances.
Emiliano Rigoni might also be a familiar name for Columbus fans. Rigoni played for Austin FC between 2022-24.
