Austin FC can punch ticket to next round of Leagues Cup, but they have a tall task ahead

CF Monterrey, the highest-seeded team in Leagues Cup group stage play, produced the second-highest point total across Liga MX play last season and returns nearly the entire roster. Wolff said the Rayados "have many ways they can go about the game."

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin FC is flying high after Saturday's 3-2 win over Pumas UNAM of Liga MX in Leagues Cup group play, but head coach Josh Wolff knows the next Mexican team Verde and Black takes on Tuesday is going to be even better.

CF Monterrey, the highest-seeded team in Leagues Cup group stage play, produced the second-highest point total across Liga MX play last season and returns nearly the entire roster. Wolff said the Rayados "have many ways they can go about the game."

"They can control the tempo and are very secure on the ball," Wolff said. "There are a lot of moving pieces because of that, and they make it challenging. They get a lot of guys on your last line, they play inside and outside and attack your back line with numbers and ferocity."

He said some teams in Major League Soccer try to mimic the same attacking style, but Monterrey finished the split Liga MX season with a plus-25 goal differential and 65 points in a 34-match schedule. They finished second in the Apertura tournament table and qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Wolff said beginning the tournament against Pumas, the No. 8 team from Liga MX in the group stage, was "a good introduction to the competition."

"Pumas was physical, and I think Monterrey is a little more elegant," Wolff said. "Not that they don't have combativeness, but they have more of the soccer-playing element. They'll be combative, but I don't look at them at the same physical level. When we have the ball, we have to stress them."

Austin will be without speedy winger Osman Bukari due to his soft red card against Pumas. Bukari picked up a yellow card early in the 28th minute and was handed another six minutes later to be sent off. Verde and Black led 1-0 at that point following Alex Ring's goal in the eighth minute, and that way the team fought to hold on for the win gave Wolff another reason to feel good about the direction the team is headed.

"Over the course of the last four or five games, results don't always tell the whole story," he said. "We were down a guy in a number of those games, so maybe in some regards it helped us prepare for that. We didn't panic going down a guy and we showed some real quality and class to manage the game in a good way."

Wolff said starting goalkeeper Brad Stuver is healthy after recovering from an illness that led to Stefan Cleveland's first start between the pipes. Cleveland saved a penalty kick in second-half stoppage time to preserve the win over Pumas and he made seven saves overall.

"When everything was on the table and had to make a play, he made it," Wolff said about Cleveland.

Thankfully for Austin, they don't have to travel to Monterrey. The Rayados averaged more than 43,000 fans per match in the Clausura season and could easily turn Estadio BBVA into a living nightmare. For comparison, Q2 Stadium has a capacity of around 21,000.

Wolff said the Pumas fans, along with the Austin fans, made the energy in Q2 "incredible." He knows how passionate Liga MX fans are and he's anticipating Monterrey to bring even more of a fan base than Pumas did.

"The atmosphere in Q2 is a constant, and our fans are a big part of that as well as when you bring in the opposition," Wolff said. "The Mexican fans are passionate about their team and league."

Any result other than a loss — outright win, penalty shootout win, penalty shootout loss — will put Austin through to the knockout round. A loss muddies the water a bit and a tiebreaker scenario could be the deciding factor to determine which teams move through. The match kicks off at 8 p.m.