As the Leagues Cup reaches the semi-final stage this week, there are some outstanding performances from the quarterfinals to look back upon.
The names in our Player power rankings for the most recent round will be familiar to followers of Major League Soccer, and three of the four semi-finalists represent the United States.
Mexican side Monterrey had a tough draw against reigning MLS champion Los Angeles FC, but a 3-2 win at the Rose Bowl made sure there will be a Mexican representative in the final stages of this tournament.
We start with a player who almost registered a perfect 10/10 performance in the quarters.
By James Nalton, MLS expert
Hany Mukhtar (Nashville SC)
Nashville was the standout team in the Leagues Cup quarter-finals, scoring five goals in a 20-minute spell before and after halftime to see off fellow MLS side Minnesota United.
When Nashville is in such scintillating form, it usually means Mukhtar is doing good things, and that was certainly the case in this quarterfinal.
The German assisted the first three goals for his side and scored the fifth for good measure, blasted in at the near post.
His first assists two may have been from fairly lucky touches or deflections in the area, but there is value in being in the right places to make things happen.
The third assist was much more measured—a pinpoint cross from the right to set up Alex Muyl.
Mukhtar also completed 51 of his 55 passes giving him a pass success of 93% which is really impressive for such an attacking player so heavily involved in the play.
Denis Bouanga (Los Angeles FC)
Los Angeles FC may have exited the Leagues Cup at the hands of Monterrey, but the game was another reminder of the quality of Bouanga.
He opened the scoring with a penalty, converting a spot-kick that he himself had won.
He was a threat to the Monterrey defence throughout the game and later set up the Mateusz Bogusz who made it 2-0 to LAFC.
The 2022 MLS champions couldn’t hang on to the win, though, and second-half collapse saw them lose the game 3-2 and exit the competition.
Bouanga has only played three games in this tournament due to LAFC’s bye to the knockout rounds, granted to them as reigning MLS champions, but even in so few games he almost managed to catch Lionel Messi at the top of the goalscoring charts.
His penalty in this quarter-final was his sixth in three games, putting him two behind Messi who has eight from five and one behind Minnesota’s Bongokuhle Hlongwane.
Monterrey’s win was good for the tournament as a whole as the two leagues competing in the Leagues Cup are still represented in the semi-finals.
But the competition will miss Bouanga who was on course to challenge Messi as its best player.
Robert Taylor (Inter Miami)
Finnish winger Taylor has been one of the greatest beneficiaries of Messi’s arrival in Miami.
Much of the focus has understandably been on the Argentine star, but from his position, mostly from the left, Taylor now has four goals and two assists from five appearances in this tournament so far.
Both of his assists have been for Messi, and he has been one of the standout performers in this new-look Miami side.
Taylor added his latest goal in the 4-0 quarter-final win against Charlotte and after the game he spoke of the influence another new arrival, Sergi Busquets, has had on this team.
“He brings so much quality into the midfield and when we build up the game from the back, his quality and his vision is amazing,” Taylor told Apple TV.
“I’ve never seen anyone with so much calmness and the way he’s relaxed on the ball under pressure, it’s amazing.”
Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)
The Player Power rankings could serve as a weekly Messi update given he’s likely to feature in almost every matchday whether in the Leagues Cup or MLS.
His latest outing was slightly more low-key than some of his recent headline-grabbing displays, but he was still one of the players of the round even in a more “normal” performance.
He is happy to hand over penalty-taking duties to Josef Martínez, his teammate who netted the first from the spot in the win against Charlotte.
It’s an indication Messi is comfortable in his new surroundings and puts the team over any personal goal tallies.
He and Busquets run the games for Miami, although the early names on the scoresheet in this match—Martinez and Taylor, plus Deandre Yedlin, who provided the assist for Taylor’s goal—are also playing their part.
Later in the game, when striker Leonardo Campana drifted to the left, Messi spotted the opportunity to get in the box.
Campana timed his pass perfectly and somehow the most talked about, high-profile player in soccer managed to evade the attention of any Charlotte defenders to add his eighth goal of the tournament and his team’s third on the night.
Kai Wagner (Philadelphia Union)
Philadelphia Union might pose the first real test for Messi and Co. thanks to the intensity of their defending and their usually well-organised shape out of possession.
Jim Curtin’s side are have been one of the standout teams in MLS since winning the Supporters’ Shield in 2020, building a team around a solid system first rather than star players.
That’s not to say the Union doesn’t have any standout performers who make this system tick.
One of them is attacking left-back Wagner who regularly attracts interest from Europe but so far remains at Philadelphia where he is one of their primary creative outlets.
He showed this again in the 2-1 win against one of the tournament’s surprise packages, Querétaro, assisting the winner for Chris Donovan deep into added time.
He now leads the Leagues Cup for chances created with 16, one ahead of Mukhtar’s 15.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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