\n
24<\/strong>
LAFC’s Hugo Lloris leads all goalkeepers in this year\u2019s competition in saves (24<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
7<\/strong>
Son Heung-Min leads all players in assists (7<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
LAFC’s first-leg win over Toluca last week extended its unbeaten run in the competition to seven<\/strong> matches (5W-0L-2D). The Black & Gold is the only remaining undefeated team in the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
3<\/strong>
LAFC is seeking to reach the final for a third<\/strong> time after finishing as Champions Cup runners-up in 2020 and 2023.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
6<\/strong>
Toluca seeks to advance to its sixth<\/strong> Champions Cup final and claim its third title.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
4<\/strong>
LAFC is unbeaten in its four<\/strong> previous Champions Cup Semifinal matches, with a record of 3W-0L-1D (9 goals scored, 3 goals allowed).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
18<\/strong>
LAFC has an all-time record of 9W-5L-4D in 18<\/strong> matches against Liga MX clubs in official competition (Concacaf Champions Cup, Campeones Cup, Leagues Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup Play-In match).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
9<\/strong>
The Black & Gold is unbeaten in regulation time against Liga MX clubs over its last nine<\/strong> meetings (5W-0L-4D).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
\n
2026 CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP – STATS<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n\n\n| \n LAFC<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 16 goals scored (1st among semifinal teams)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| \n SON HEUNG-MIN<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 7 assists (1st among all players)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| \n HUGO LLORIS<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 24 saves (1st)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| \n DENIS BOUANGA<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 5 goals (3rd)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
\n| \n DAVID MART\u00cdNEZ<\/p>\n<\/td>\n | \n 4 goals (T-4th)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n THE SETUP<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n Toluca played courageously against LAFC in LA last Wednesday, earning a valuable away goal on a strike \u00a0by midfielder Jes\u00fas Ricardo Angulo in the 73rd minute. Angulo\u2019s goal tied the match 1-1 before LAFC defender Nkosi Tafari headed home a corner kick from Son in second-half stoppage time to secure LAFC\u2019s 2-1 win.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n LAFC played without its all-time leading scorer (Bouanga) and its longest-tenured player (defender Eddie Segura) in that match due to yellow-card accumulation. In Leg Two, it appears Toluca will have to do without an elite attacker and defender. Captain and star forward Alexis Vega has been called into camp with the Mexican national team along with left back Jes\u00fas Gallardo. Vega came on for the final ten minutes in Leg One against LAFC. Gallardo started the match and played all 90 minutes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n Toluca striker Paulinho (Jo\u00e3o Paulo Dias Fernandes) leads all players with six goals scored in the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n JAM-PACKED<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n Both clubs are enduring congested calendars.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n LAFC is in the middle of a stretch of 13 matches in 44 days, while Toluca finds itself playing its four most important matches of 2026 in a span of just two weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n On Sunday night, May 3, Los Diablos Rojos lost the first leg of its Liga MX Liguilla Quarterfinals series to Pachuca, 1-0, at home at\u00a0Estadio Nemesio D\u00edez. Those two sides will reconvene for Leg 2 in Pachuca on Friday, May 10, to see who moves on to the league semis.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n ABOUT ESTADIO NEMESIO D\u00cdEZ<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n Located in the Colonia Francisco Murgu\u00eda neighborhood in the heart of downtown Toluca (metro population 2.2 million), Estadio Nemesio D\u00edez opened in 1954 and is one of the oldest top-flight football venues in Mexico. Initially known as Estadio H\u00e9ctor Barraza and later Luis Guti\u00e9rrez Dosal, it was renamed in 2000 to honor Nemesio D\u00edez Riega, president and then-owner of the club, who had died earlier that year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n Nicknamed La Bombonera (The Chocolate Box), El Infierno (The Hell), or La Casa del Diablo (The Devil’s House), the stadium has hosted matches during the 1970 FIFA World Cup\u2014including a quarterfinal between Mexico and Italy\u2014and the 1986 FIFA World Cup 1986 group stage, and multiple matches involving the Mexican national team.\u00a0 A renovation from 2015 to 2017 modernized the venue.\u00a0 Today, the stadium holds 30,000 spectators.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n WHAT IS CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n The region\u2019s most prestigious club competition, Concacaf Champions Cup is a 27-team continental tournament that takes place from February through May and features the top 27 teams in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The winner of the Champions Cup Final on May 30 earns a berth in the FIFA Club World Cup in 2029.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n LAFC WILL WIN IF<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n Its recent rotations pay off, and its defense holds. In Saturday\u2019s 2-2 draw in San Diego in league play, manager Marc Dos Santos made nine changes to the starting eleven that had begun last week\u2019s first-leg win over Toluca.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n Two of those resting starters\u2014defenders Ryan Porteous and Sergi Palencia (above)\u2014did not come on as substitutes against San Diego. Fully refreshed, Palencia and Porteous will be on the field at kickoff on Wednesday night, in the 8,750-foot elevation of Toluca, where a scoreless draw or any kind of win would push LAFC to its third Champions Cup Final. If LAFC concedes more than one goal, its control of its own fate decreases.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n TOLUCA WILL WIN IF<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n The cauldron of supporters and the thin air in the Nemesio D\u00edez inspire the Red Devils\u2019 attack.\u00a0\u00a0A one-nil Toluca win won\u2019t cut it. A 2-1 Toluca win means extra time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n If Toluca scores three, their chances of moving on skyrocket.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n |