Champions Cup Preview: Forge vs CF Monterrey

Will the third time prove the charm for Forge?

The perennial Canadian Premier League powerhouse will open its competitive calendar against Liga MX giant CF Monterrey at Hamilton Stadium (title pending) tonight, marking the club’s third foray into the Concacaf Champions Cup.

The Hamilton, Ontario-based side is well versed at an early cold open to its 2025 campaign, and have prepared for the occasion through a Mexican preseason and a re-tooling of the club’s attack and defensive ends, with most of the core roster returning amidst some intriguing new faces.

See Also: Brian Wright Crosses Derby Lines, Signs With Forge

Make no mistake, however: Forge FC will march onto a cold pitch tonight as firm underdogs against CF Monterrey. The hammers have twice faced Mexican opponents in this tournament, but fell on both occasions against Cruz Azul and Chivas Guadalajara. In sharp contrast, CF Monterrey boasts the strongest record of any club in the tournament, going all the way to win it on five occasions, last doing so in 2021.

The Mexican giants are on the precipice of adding Sergio Ramos to a star-studded roster backed by contract sizes multitudes higher than Forge’s total squad budget. Forge boss Bobby Smyrniotis echoed a favourite quote of his in the buildup: bags of money don’t score goals, he says.

Another angle of the Sergio Canales goal pic.twitter.com/gULo5ZdIjO

— Rayados90 (@rayadosninety) December 13, 2024

Rayados forward Sergio Canales certainly does, however, and the 33-year-old veteran has flown in to Hamilton having bagged opened his account this year. Capable of playing centrally or on the right, the goal prowess of the former La Liga striker will be a stern test for Dan Nimick‘s first steps with Forge, just as Rayados defender and captain Hector Moreno – a three-time World Cup veteran – will be expected to stifle Forge’s attack.

Overall, however, CF Monterrey has started its Clausura campaign a little slowly, with six points from five matches dropping them down to tenth place, just two points higher than Benjamin Mora‘s Queretaro. Monterrey finished fifth in the Apertura segment, with head coach Martin Demichelis expected to restore his side to the higher results which qualified them for this tournament in the first place.

“Forge are a very dynamic, physical team, with youth players trained through one of the best academies in Canada, where they try to give value to passing and possession,” said Demichelis ahead of tonight’s match.

The hammers will enter the match with a roster recently bolstered by the return of Alessandro Hojabrpour and some new arrivals like Ben Paton, though Beni Badibanga (club dispute) and Malik Owolabi-Belewu are not present and Elimane Cisse is still out from an injury suffered last year. Suffice to say, there are some players fans would have wanted present for such a high-profile match.

With a cold breeze blowing in Hamilton, the club’s home fixture will present the best opportunity to punch upwards against lofty opponents. Tonight’s match will kick off at 8:00PM, with the reverse leg in Mexico set for Tuesday, February 11.

Canadian fans not present in Hamilton can tune into OneSoccer, which now begins its post-Mediapro era, to watch the match.

Header Image Photo Credit: John Jacques