A decade before Wilfried Nancy became an MLS Cup champion and earned a reputation as the best coach in the U.S. and Canada's top league — long before he took the Columbus Crew to within one win of a FIFA Club World Cup berth, which the Black and Yellow will go for in Saturday's Concacaf Champions Cup final against Mexico's Pachuca — he took a coaching course with his future boss, Tim Bezbatchenko.
Meantime, the win over Tigres saved MLS from the embarrassment of not having at least one representative in the semis for the first time since 2016. 'Obviously, the team has done well against Mexican teams. It gives us a lot of confidence,' Nagbe said. 'But a final is different, whether you're home or away.' On paper, Columbus matches up favorably with Pachuca.