PLAYING FOR A TROPHY TONIGHT AT LOWER.COM FIELD
THE CREW FACES CRUZ AZUL
Columbus Crew hosts its first international club competition at Lower.com Field on Wednesday when it welcomes Mexican side Cruz Azul for the 2021 Campeones Cup. The match is set to be the first all-time meeting between the sides. The contest is the third time this season that the Black & Gold face off against a Mexican side, after the Crew faced CF Monterrey in the Quarterfinal Stage of the 2021 Concacaf Champions League, falling 5-2 on a two-leg aggregate score.
WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
Wednesday's match against Cruz Azul begins at 8:00 p.m. ET and is set to be nationally televised on ESPN2. Jon Champion and Taylor Twellman are slated to have the call in English. The match is also available in Spanish on Univision and TUDN, with Paco Villa and Pablo Ramirez on the call for TUDN.
ABOUT CRUZ AZUL
Cruz Azul qualified for the Campeones Cup by defeating Club Leon 2-1 in the 2021 Campeon de Campeones. At the domestic level, Cruz Azul has won nine Liga MX titles (1968–69, 1970, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1978–79, 1979–80, Invierno 1997, Guardianes 2021) and the Copa MX four times (1968–69, 1996–97, Clausura 2013, Apertura 2018). Internationally, Cruz Azul has won the Concacaf Champions League six times (1969, 1970, 1971, 1996, 1997, 2013–14) and won the inaugural Leagues Cup tournament in 2019.
ZARDES SCORES 50TH REGULAR-SEASON GOAL FOR CREW
With his 44th-minute goal against CF Montreal on Saturday, Gyasi Zardes scored his 50th regular season as a member of the Crew. Zardes is now one of four players in Club history to score 50 or more goals for the Black & Gold.
ZARDES VOTED MLS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Gyasi Zardes was voted the MLSsoccer.com Player of the Week for Week 27 of the 2021 MLS season, following his performance against CF Montreal on Saturday. Zardes becomes the second Crew player this season to be voted the MLS Player of the Week, after Lucas Zelarayan claimed the title for Week 6. Additionally, Zardes was named to the MLSsoccer.com Team of the Week for the third time this season, having previously been named to the team for Weeks Eight and 11.
