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Real Salt Lake and Tigres UANL will meet at the former’s Rio Tinto Stadium on Wednesday in the first round of the inaugural Leagues Cup, a tournament consisting of four MLS teams and four sides from Liga MX.
In the US, the match begins at 10:30 p.m. ET. It won’t be on regular TV in the United States, but you can watch the match on ESPN+, the digital streaming service from ESPN that has coverage of most Leagues Cup matches, other international soccer and live sports, all the 30-for-30 documentaries and additional original content for $4.99 per month.
You can sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then watch a live stream of RSL vs Tigres on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the ESPN app.
Real Salt Lake vs Tigres Preview
Real Salt Lake claimed victory just once in their first six MLS contests of the 2019 season, but they’ve lost just five of 15 since to propel themselves into the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 30 points, holding a goal-differential advantage over the eighth-place Houston Dynamo.
The Claret and Cobalt played to a 1-1 draw at home against Minnesota United on Saturday.
“It was lackluster. It was a bit uninspiring,” Real Salt Lake head coach Mike Petke said, according to MLSsoccer.com. “I feel we could have won it, but looking back on it, a 1-1 draw is a correct outcome.”
He added: “I feel I pushed them a little too hard this week, and looking at this game tonight it was clear that we did. I was trying to capitalize on last week’s [4-0 home win over the Philadelphia Union] and that contributes to certain things — lack of off ball movement, lack of running behind.”
RSL general manager Craig Waibel told reporters he’s intrigued by the future of the Leagues Cup, but noted it’ll require patience if the tournament’s to draw significant fan interest.
“I don’t know what the competition means right now,” RSL general manager Craig Waibel said, per MLSsoccer.com. “It’s not a way into CONCACAF Champions League. It’s not a way into another bigger competition. This is the first step. It will be interesting to see what step two is in terms of competition, level and commitment from both leagues.”
The former Houston Dynamo defender added: “We’re all in the experimental phase of trying to create a new competition that’s meaningful. It takes time. It takes several years. It’s not the players and the clubs, it’s the fan base that decides if it’s important. It’s well past due that something like this takes hold and becomes a very relevant competition, so hopefully that next step gets us a lot closer, a lot faster.”
Tigres claimed the Liga MX Clausura a season ago, besting León 1-0 on aggregate in the final for their fourth league title in as many years.
Their quest for another began on Saturday, as they topped Morelia 4-2 in their first Apertura match. Tigres opened a 3-0 lead in the first half, but surrendered a pair of tallies in the second before Javier Aquino virtually ended things in stoppage time with his second goal of the night.
“Tigres can’t afford a second time like that,” UANL center back Carlos Salcedo said in Spanish, according to Marca. “We were the ones who gave life to Morelia. We have to be self-critical, we had a very good first half but then it came down.”