CONCACAF Champions Cup: Nashville SC Draws Club America 0-0

Ronan Briscoe
Apr 8
3 min read

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The first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup tie between Nashville SC and Club América has come and gone, with the scoreline in the first 90 minutes remaining at a static 0-0.

After a tough defeat on the road at Chicago Fire at the weekend, it was a short turnaround as GEODIS Park was the venue for Tuesday night’s cagey affair that actually saw Nashville possess the majority of the ball. Truthfully, they also would walk away with the majority of the chances to score as well.

Next week, Nashville makes their first trip south of the border to the legendary and iconic Estadio Azteca, reopening for the first time after lengthy renovations ahead of this summer’s World Cup.

But in this affair, as mentioned, it was the hosts who had the incentive to push from the opening whistle. It was a full strength lineup for BJ Callaghan’s side, as Brian Schwake sat behind a backline of Andy Najar, Maxwell Woledzi, Jeisson Palacios and Reed Baker-Whiting. Ahead of them was a two-man pivot midfield of Patrick Yazbek and Matthew Corcoran supporting the attack consisting of Warren Madrigal, Hany Mukhtar, Cristian Espinoza and Sam Surridge.

Nashville pressed hard early, and had a couple half chances, notably a deflected shot from Cristian Espinoza, but the best chance would come in first half stoppage time as Sam Surridge found his way through a crowd, but too much of a crowd to get set properly and his glancing effort skipped wide of América’s left post.

After the halftime interval, América did open up a bit, pressing a bit harder, which left gaps Nashville was eager to pounce on. A 56th minute breakaway again found Surridge but he couldn’t get the right contact on his left foot, and the ball sailed over the crossbar.

As the game continued to get tighter and tighter, chances actually became more at a premium even as the game got end-to-end. Often, for Nashville, it was on-ball marauding runs of Andy Najar that created something out of nothing, which eventually forced América to stick two players on him anytime the ball entered his gravitational field.

The best chance Nashville would have all game would be their final one, however, as on a breakaway, Matthew Corcoran found substitute Ahmed Qasem, who resisted the urge to shoot, picked his way through traffic, and laid off to an on-rushing Alex Muyl, who blasted his effort practically into the concourse above and behind the goal.

The whistle went, and 0-0 was the final heading into the second leg. Seven days from the conclusion of the first leg, next Tuesday, the Coyotes will travel around 1,800 miles and 6,800 feet further above sea level to a stadium that needs no introduction, needing a result. 0-0 is an acceptable result for Nashville, much like the first leg against Miami, as it leaves the Coyotes with the advantage should they grab an away goal. However, a draw in Mexico, in the Azteca, is always difficult to find, and BJ Callaghan and co. will have it all to do.

Before that, however, Nashville does have a tough road trip to regional rivals Charlotte FC on Saturday, who posted the best home record in all of Major League Soccer in 2025, including a 2-1 home victory over Nashville.