Leagues Cup Dead Rubber – Rapids vs Cruz Azul Preview

Carson, California— After that sort of week from the Rapids, it’s difficult to look ahead to a Leagues Cup match. Neither team has anything to play for. Colorado will face Cruz Azul with both sides already out of contention for a top-four spot. However, it will be interesting to see how Colorado reacts to their star player jumping ship. We saw the effects of the team being without Djordje Mihailović in the loss against Tijuana. Can the Rapids overcome that loss? Why does that matter? Let’s take a look at the matchup.

When: Thursday, August 7th @ 6:30 p.m. MST

Where: Dignity Health Sports Park

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV

First Loss Against a Liga MX Team Since 2023:

The team may not have known it at the time, but Colorado was taken down 2-1 against Club Tijuana in the first match without Djordje Mihailović. The playmaker was a gameday scratch against Tijuana, but the “personal reasons” that the club announced he was dealing with turned out to be a precursor to Djordje’s untimely exit to Toronto. The team had to think on their feet to try and get a result despite Djordje calling it quits. Armas opted for a two-striker system, with Rafael Navarro and Darren Yapi leading the line. It was a return to a 4-4-2 formation, with Jackson Travis, and Keegan Rosenberry starting on the backline. It also featured Wayne Frederick in the midfield along with Cole Bassett. Although the youngster was poor and was yanked at halftime.

The rotated lineup did not pay dividends for Colorado, as Tijuana dominated the match for most of the first half. Club Tijuana took a 1-0 lead into the break after outshooting the Rapids 12-3. Colorado only had one of those three on target, compared to Tijuana’s five. Colorado had better-looking stats in the second half, but even with 73% possession, only outshot Tijuana 10-8. Both teams were able to get one on the board. Tijuana scored at both ends in the second half, just minutes apart. First-half goal scorer Jackson Porozo scored for both sides in this match and was the only player to score for Colorado.

The performance will remind many of the 2022 and 2023 seasons for Colorado, especially in the second half. The team failed to show any sort of creativity in the final third. Opting to pass the ball around the opposition’s box rather than attack the net. This problem was only worsened with the tactical switches made in the match, bringing in Sam Vines at winger, with Sam Bassett and Alex Harris being the attempted difference makers in the latter stages of the game. Colorado had most of the ball in the second half, and still scored on while only scoring on an own goal.

Without Djordje, Cole Bassett and Rafa Navarro had a chance to fill in the hole and take responsibility for the team. Rafa had 32 touches, the least of any player to play 90 minutes, and Cole Bassett had arguably his worst match of the year. The team really struggled to play without Djordje, but will have to learn quickly as Mihailović won’t be there.

Lineup Prediction:

Steffen / Cannon, Cobb, Murphy, Vines / Ku-DiPietro, C. Bassett, Larraz, S. Bassett / Yapi, Navarro

Chris Armas is adamant that they will try to win against Cruz Azul even though they cannot qualify for the quarterfinals. It would not shock me to see a full-strength eleven on Thursday. It would also not shock me to see a fully rotated lineup, aiming to get key players the rest that they so desperately need. It’s anyone’s guess.

Colorado will play a crucial match against Minnesota United just three days after this match. It may be smart to rotate the team heavily to prepare for the quick turnaround.

If the team wants to rest their key players against Cruz Azul, there are a lot of interesting names that would look to get some minutes. The biggest player who needs to get minutes is the newly acquired Noah Cobb. The center back is on loan from Atlanta United for the remainder of the 2025 season. The 20-year-old has yet to make his first Rapids appearance. With Rob Holding hopefully joining the team sooner rather than later, it will start to be difficult to find a spot for Cobb along the backline. A match like this against Cruz Azul will be the perfect opportunity to see what the team has in Noah Cobb.

How Does the Team Move On From Djordje?

We saw Colorado’s first attempt at playing without Djordje Mihailović against Club Tijuana, and it was not great. Key players failed to step up and fill the hole, the team found it difficult to create any sort of meaningful chances, and set pieces were somehow worse than before. It was a tall task to replace Djordje on such short notice. So how does the team look to be better now that they are more aware of Djordje’s absence?

The short answer is that they have to look elsewhere. There was barely a backup for Djordje on the team while he was here. The closest replacement we have for Djordje is Ted Ku-DiPietro or Cole Bassett playing out of position? Sydney Wathuta? A Rapids 2 player who has been playing in the number ten position. Other than that, no player on the roster is an out-and-out number ten. Colorado got $8 million from this trade, not including potential add-ons or sell-on percentage. This is more than enough to reinvest back into the team and find a replacement number ten on the market.

Unfortunately, Colorado does not have a great track record of reinvesting in the team after a large sale. Most recently, in 2024, Moïse Bombito was sold to Nice in France for a similar amount of money, at a similar time of the year, putting the team in a similar poor spot. Colorado failed to get a center back to replace Bombito in the same window. They leaned on Lalas Abubakar to fill the spot Moïse left. This left the team in a precarious position, and Colorado limped into the playoffs and conceded nine goals in two games against the LA Galaxy, squandering what was a promising year. Catching up to the present, we still haven’t really seen any return on the investment. The $8 million has not been reinvested in the team. This may end up as a similar story for Colorado with Djordje’s departure.

Unfortunately, if this is the case, it would be difficult to see anything other than an imminent collapse for the Burgundy Boys. The team struggles without Djordje. This may be the most prevalent after Djordje got injured in the match away at Portland. Colorado went on to lose the 1-0 lead that Djordje gave them due to his replacement receiving a red card. Against Club Tijuana, the Rapids just flat out looked bad. Colorado will need to find a replacement for Djordje soon. Without him, the season may be as good as over for Colorado.

Disaster Start to Leagues Cup for CCC Champions:

One of the shock results of the Leagues Cup campaign so far was Cruz Azul losing by seven goals to Seattle on the first matchday. Only two months out from beating Vancouver 5-0 in the Concacaf Champions Cup Final, Cruz Azul has been a completely different team in Leagues Cup. Along with losing 7-0 to Seattle in their first match, they followed it up by giving away a late equalizer against the bottom of the West, the LA Galaxy. Despite winning the penalty shootout, two points from their first two matches have them mathematically eliminated from advancing to the quarterfinals. Far from the expectations that Cruz Azul had in Leagues Cup.

It will be interesting to see how Cruz Azul approaches this game. They are in a similar position to Colorado. It would not be surprising to see a whole host of changes for Cruz Azul, as they look ahead to the upcoming Liga MX season. However, Cruz Azul would want to end Leagues Cup on a high note, and could play a number of their starters to try and get a result.

If they do end up fielding some starters, the player to keep an eye on for Colorado is a familiar one. Mateusz Bogusz has only recently moved to Cruz Azul from LAFC for $8.9 million. A Rapids killer in his time at LAFC, Bogusz will be a threat to look out for in LA.

Prediction: Colorado ends Leagues Cup in a bad way, as the Rapids cannot get over the departure of Djordje. Cruz Azul wins 3-0.

Photo Credit: Spencer Baldwin

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