New York Red Bulls will exit the 2025 Leagues Cup during the group stage but did not suffer a loss within the 90 minutes of any of their three games. All three fixtures saw the Red Bulls play against difficult Liga MX competition, including Chivas de Guadalajara, Monterrey and last night’s opponents Juarez. While head coach Sandro Schwarz utilized a mostly young squad, the feeling is that the club left everything on the field.
“We tried everything,” said Schwarz after the team’s 1-1 effort against Juarez. “All they young guys, they did very well. Marcelo Morales’ first game, that was good to have the feeling for him with the intensity. The second half, I would say the first 15 to 20 minutes was the best period of the game.”
Red Bulls were able to take the lead off a first half header from defender Dylan Nealis. While the team pressured for a good chunk of the second half, they weren’t able to find the second goal to put their opponents away. Even if they had done it, the likelihood of their advancement would have been low since goal difference ended up being the deciding factor in who advanced to the quarterfinals.
The roster itself was comprised mostly of younger talent that has seen little on-field action in 2025. Players like Wiktor Bogacz, Marcelo Morales, Wiki Carmona and Andy Rojas featured in the starting eleven. Many of these players have shown their abilities with Michael Bradley and New York Red Bulls II and were thrown into a rather challenging scenario against Liga MX competition. While they couldn’t find the goal to win the game in regulation, the team showed the kind of fight that could give the club hope heading into the final stretch of the 2025 season.
“I think the past three games have shown what we’re all about,” said Nealis after the game. “We’re getting back to our basics with mentality and behavior, just being hard to play against. I think that’s what we’re all about. That’s what Sandro (Schwarz) was preaching. Just get back to our good performances.”
There’ll be little rest for Red Bulls as they head into an important cross-conference game against Real Salt Lake on Sunday. More than likely, the line-up will be stronger as the team is still pushing for a playoff position. Currently sitting just outside of the field, a win at home at SI Stadium, where the club has performed well, could be the defining moment the club needs to kickstart the back half of the campaign.
photo by Matt Kremkau