Portland Timbers-Club Tijuana Preview (8/13)

In an ideal world, tomorrow’s game between the Portland Timbers and Tijuana would be a headline affair. As head coach Marti Cifuentes prepares to coach his first game in Portland, the stakes are pretty murky. By the time the opening whistle is blown tomorrow night, the Timbers could be eliminated from Leagues Cup. A very important game in Chicago is on Sunday. But, if you’re the new head coach who has waited WEEKS for the chance to finally get back on the touchline with his new team, there’s only one goal in your mind: win. 

The Tijuana Report

Xolos de Tijuana are a pretty well-recognized Liga MX club. Despite a proud 19-year history of never being relegated (Liga MX stopped pro/rel in 2020 and made the change permanent this year) Tijuana has only been crowned Mexican champions once. That title occurred during the 2012 Apertura.

However, despite the aforementioned name recognition, Tijuana rarely finds a way to make the postseason. Since the 2020 Apertura, Xolos have only qualified for the Liguilla twice. The first was the 2024 Apertura, when they lost to Club America on penalties in the Play-In Game. They qualified again in the 2025 Apertura, finishing 7th and facing 2nd-placed Tigres in the quarterfinal. At home in the first leg, Xolos managed a 3-0 smash-and-grab victory despite only putting 6 shots on target and generating 0.73 xG. Tigres erased that deficit in the first half of the second leg before tacking on two more goals to win 5-0 and advance to the semis.

But Tijuana (2-1-0, 7 points, 2nd in Liga MX) began the 2026 Apertura with a fair amount of momentum. Tigres came to the Estadio Caliente for the season opener, and received a red card right before the halftime whistle with a 1-0 deficit. Ozziel Herrera equalized in the 56th minute, but a stoppage time brace from Mourad El Ghezouani gave Xolos a huge win to begin the campaign. A 1-0 home win against Leon followed, but Tijuana entered Leagues Cup on the back of a 0-0 draw with Atletico San Luis (Felipe Mora’s debut). However, due to their impressive start, Tijuana became a dark-horse pick to make the knockout stages of Leagues Cup.

That hope was shattered 16 minutes into Matchday 1 when Austin’s Joseph Rosales found the back of the net. Xolos managed to outshoot Austin 20-16, but only 3 of those shots were on target. Jon Gallagher doubled Austin’s lead right before the halftime whistle. Defensive midfielder Ivan Tona was sent off in the 71st minute, thereby cementing Tijuana’s fate. But they only lost by two goals, and the Liga MX table allows for results like that, so Xolos were still alive when they headed to San Diego for Matchday 2. Despite outshooting their opponent again, Tijuana failed to find the back of the net and Bryan Zamble’s 22nd-minute goal proved to be the difference. As they prepare to face Portland, it’s worth noting that their focus is probably on a humongous game on Sunday. Cruz Azul is coming to town, and Tijuana is one of only two teams that haven’t scored a Leagues Cup goal yet (the other one is Queretaro, I know, shocking). 

But no one wants to be embarrassed in a tournament, so Tijuana is definitely going to show up for this game. The strength of their lineup, however, is probably going to fall on the weaker side.

Tijuana Projected Starting XI

No injury reports. I want this tournament to end unless the Timbers miraculously qualify for the knockouts.

This is the same team that started against San Diego except for two changes. I put Mejia at right back because I felt like it. Manoel is a former MLSer who was the starting striker for the Red Bulls when they made MLS Cup in 2024. He was traded to RSL in the offseason but refused to play for them, which makes him one of my personal heroes. Botafogo picked him up, sent him on loan to Santa Clara, and now he plays for Xolos. 

You might think the main star of this team is the goalkeeper who wears the number 2, but it’s actually their number 10: Gilberto Mora. He was the youngest player at the World Cup and is the Golden Boy for the Mexican national team. He’ll move to Europe sooner or later, and a lot of Xolos (and El Tri) fans will show up to the stadium tomorrow hoping that he’ll suit up. He might, or he might not. Only time will tell.

The Timbers Report

After losing in a sea of yellow on Sunday night, the Portland Timbers (7-3-8, 24 points, 8W/16S) are finally at the final game of their 6-game homestand. Actually, because it’s very funny, let’s include the 5-1 win at Lumen for a nice and even 7 consecutive home games. Something about streaks of 7 really brings a smile to my face. But while the Timbers are likely going to enter this game with a negligible chance of advancing to the knockout stage of Leagues Cup, a long-awaited day has finally arrived. Marti Cifuentes has been in Portland for a week. But he finally gets the chance to lead the team onto the field for the first time. However, his ascent to the reserved parking spot comes with more shuffling of the Timbers’ coaching staff. 

A Club Legend Departs

I’m not going to sugarcoat it. This one hurts.

For 12 years, Liam Ridgewell was an ever-present figure within the Timbers organization. He joined as a player in 2014 and immediately delighted the fanbase with his ponytail and signature goal celebration. That celebration was first executed in a game against San Jose after the center back dribbled through the entire Earthquake defense before calmly slotting a shot into the back of the net. Two hands joined above his head, his knees hit the ground, and the Ridgy Roll began. And that roll wouldn’t stop until Tuesday morning, when news of his departure was announced by the club.

He rolled into 2015 with a new center back partner, and ended it with a league title. He rolled into the captain’s armband, an off-season loan spell, and another run to MLS Cup. A brief hiatus from Portland followed as he ended his playing career in his native England. But sooner or later, he was back in the Rose City as a member of the KPTV Timbers broadcast team. Paired with Jake Zivin and Ross Smith, he brought another (sometimes unintelligible) perspective to the commentary. He rolled into section 219 on December 11th, 2021 with a radio headset on and lost his mind when Felipe Mora found the back of the net. 

And two years later, he rolled into the technical area.

Ridgewell was an excellent player and leader, and those traits carried over into his coaching career. He served dutifully under Giovanni Savarese and Phil Neville, but all of his hard work really paid off during the past two months. As Neville’s coaching staff began to shrink following his departure, Ridgewell and Memo Valencia were tasked with assisting Jack Cassidy through the transition period. Suddenly, all of the coaching badges he had earned over the past few years were getting stress-tested. More work than ever was on his plate, dwarfing the responsibilities he was tasked with when he wore the armband. Cassidy always acknowledged Ridgewell and Valencia’s contributions to Portland’s rebound. Without Ridgewell’s steady and experienced presence on the touchline, the glorious victories of the past month wouldn’t have been possible. Each set piece goal? That was Ridgy’s responsibility. Exchanging places with Cassidy on the bench, leaving the seats to be a dominant voice from the coach’s box? It seemed like he would be an eternal Timber, only leaving the organization when he rightfully got his chance to lead a club of his own.

And yet, that’s not how things worked out. The exact details of his departure remain private, but I think a semblance of knowledge can be gleaned from the press release.

Man, this rubbed me the wrong way. Before Ned Grabavoy was the general manager, he had long, flowing hair and wore the green number 10. He was teammates with a center back who preferred to not let his hair flow, but kept it tied up. This isn’t any other staffing change; it’s the departure of Liam Ridgewell. You can’t summon more than two sentences in tribute? Neville got to write his own goodbye letter, for God’s sake!

Maybe this departure wasn’t the mutual “parting of the ways” that every coaching change is publicized as. This is a man who was selected for the All-Time XI last year, and couldn’t receive the ovation that he deserved because he was in the locker room doing his job during halftime. I think he deserves a chance to have a proper goodbye. He wore so many different hats within the organization, and he never stopped rolling. Maybe a head coaching job is coming sooner rather than later. He’s currently working on the top coaching qualification: the UEFA Pro License. During a couple open training sessions earlier this season, an observer from UEFA attended practice and saw Ridgewell in a practical environment. That final badge is almost here. In the meantime, his departure marks the spiritual beginning of the Cifuentes era.

Cifuentes is Here!

When a new TV show begins, establishing new and unfamiliar characters can be a daunting task for the writers. However, sometimes an introduction can be aced within the first 30 seconds of the pilot episode. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia provides a perfect example of this phenomenon. Dennis Reynolds is counting up the money they earned from the night before quickly stressing about the need to pay the mortgage for the bar that he and his friends own. Mac (Ronald McDonald) believes that the mortgage was already paid. Charlie Kelly sweeps the floors, the first televised moment of “Charlie Work.” Dennis’ twin sister Dee walks into the bar and immediately sets the tone: “Hey guys. So I met this guy in my acting class, and he’s really cool, and he wants to see where I work. So could you guys try to not be weird?”

For the remaining minutes of the episode’s runtime, and in all of the episodes across 17 full seasons since, this group of friends would never stop being weird. They simply couldn’t help themselves. It’s who they are, and who they are written to be. So when Marti Cifuentes was first observed on the training ground on Tuesday morning, I wanted to see how he would be introduced. Not through words, but actions.

The first thing that I noticed was the jacket. It was a sunny and beautiful day in Beaverton, and Cifuentes opted to tie his training jacket around his waist. He means business, first and foremost. But he wasn’t standing on the side with his long-time compatriots who followed him to Portland as assistant coaches. Cifuentes was on the far side of the field, leading a simple cross-and-volley drill by beginning the play. He’d pass the ball to the right-sided crosser, who would loop a delivery into the box for the forwards. This is a coach who wants to be in the thick of the action. He doesn’t want to observe, he wants to participate. A majority of the players were standing on the side with the main focus of the training session completed by the time that reporters were allowed onto the pitch. But Cifuentes remained locked in. His introduction wasn’t to be in front of cameras and in front of a sponsored backdrop. It was a look into the environment that he loves.

But the backdrops and cameras would make an appearance as he walked into the media room and shook everybody’s hand before assuming his rightful place on the podium. The big-picture thoughts would have to wait. There’s a game in two days. Cifuentes is no stranger to taking over a club in the middle of a season. “Every situation is different. Obviously, in this case, we had to wait a little bit for the visa approval. So it was interesting, I would put it this way, to watch the games from Barcelona with a big time difference. But I’m glad that all the players and Jack did a fantastic job. You learn from previous experiences on how to approach those situations in the middle of a season, especially now with a very congested schedule ahead of us in the next couple of weeks…We want to find a good balance between the new ideas we want to introduce and keeping the foundation. That’s one of the reasons why I came here. It’s a solid foundation, good players, a club that is well-organized, well-structured, and yeah, happy to finally be here.” 

He spent the past six-seven months “gaining too much weight,” but also traveling to watch a lot of games. The work didn’t stop for him as he kept learning while being unattached to a club. “There were opportunities for me to return to the game earlier, but I wanted to take that time because it’s been quite, quite intense over the last few years for me.” Cifuentes praised Cassidy’s interim tenure: “It’s been a brilliant job from Jack because it’s not easy to be in the position that he was.” One of the first things Cifuentes did upon taking charge was give Cassidy some well-earned time off. Look out, non-alcoholic bottles of Heineken.

“It’s not only the new ideas, but also a new way of training, a new way of coaching, new training methodology, and that can take some time. So we need to find a good balance with the rest of the staff on how we want to do things, how quick we can introduce certain ideas, as well as be smart because as we said this transition period has been good for the team and the team is responding. So, in the beginning, we probably won’t change too many things.” Yeah, Cifuentes loves the coaching aspect of the job. He’s not just here to manage, he’s here to coach.

“I’m confident that this will be a good fit for all of us…We’ll leave a mark here and help the players understand the game that we bring.” Cifuentes pointed out that the reporter (Enrique Caicedo of El Mañanero Deportes) whose question prompted this response began his question by saying that the Catalonian head coach looked much more serious in photos than he is in real life. He listed Johan Cruyff, Pep Guardiola, and Luis Enrique as major influences to his football philosophy. As a man from Catalonia, that shouldn’t be surprising. “I think there’s a lot of influence in soccer that belongs to the players, as they’re the stars, not the coach. Kind of like how [Carlo] Ancelotti said, ‘I’m not here to bother as much.’” That question from Eduardo Coloma of Telemundo was asked in two parts. Cifuentes answered each part separately to not muddle the answers together. He favors organization on and off the pitch. Pretty cool. “The transfer market is currently open. I’m working with Ned and Jack [Dodd] to look for the best possible way to reinforce this team.”

The last question was focused on tomorrow’s game. “We’re doing our job to prepare. Today’s been more of an introductory session, introducing our ideas to the players, and tomorrow we’re going to be able to focus on the upcoming game. We’ll, of course, be able to respect our opponents.” 

Those 15 minutes counted as the unofficial introduction for Cifuentes. He did a pretty good job, but now he has to coach a game. He can’t wait.

PTFC Projected Starting XI

What to do about this starting eleven? I’m going to go completely off book and project what I think the Timbers should do instead of what I think they will do. Let’s start with the confirmed absences. Juan Mosquera and Alexander Aravena are still hurt. James Pantemis is probably questionable. So is Ian Smith. Alex Bonetig missed the last game with a knock and might not be available.

We’re putting the “R” in “rotate” today. Even if Pantemis is cleared to play, I want to see Muse start again. I’d also like to see Ortiz play as a lone 6 and Eric Miller get a shot at right center back. Jura deserves a start as well. The two most controversial selections are Izoita and Santos, both of whom are contracted to T2. HOWEVER, I think starting a T2 player would be a serious message for Cifuentes to send. Izoita, in particular, is set to join the first team next season. He has been excelling for T2 and starting him in his first game as head coach could signal to fans that Cifuentes is intent on giving academy players some first-team playing time. In addition, T2 plays in Dallas on Saturday. I’d rather give some of those players a chance at first-team minutes than a Texan sweat-fest. 

I don’t think this lineup is likely. But this is the hardest Timbers lineup I’ve ever had to project in my four years of writing for Cascadia FC. Three humongous league games are on the schedule next week, each of whom occurring after two days of rest. Risking an injury to a starter is something that Cifuentes simply can’t do. Don’t get me wrong, I do expect to see some starters get some minutes tomorrow. But it should only come from a substitute appearance. This is probably the least optimal situation for Cifuentes’ first game. But he strikes me as a pragmatic person, and pragmatism has to triumph tomorrow above all else. 

Tactical Preview

The Details

The first few months of Cifuentes’ tenure is going to be fascinating to watch. As he begins to work in his concepts bit by bit, noticing the changes will be very interesting to watch. I’m not expecting anything ground-breaking in this regard for the next week and a half, given that the Timbers have to play four games in that timespan. But a congested schedule full of travel is kind of a perfect way to get the full MLS experience right away. 

Duels

Winning the duel battle remains paramount. Now that Cassidy isn’t on the touchline, will the Timbers still have the same duel advantage that they maintained during the interim period? There isn’t a lot of tactical stuff to talk about for this game in particular. I wish that there were actual stakes to play for!

Matchday Info

Broadcast Bulletin

Broadcast platform: Apple TV and FS1

Kickoff time: 7:30 (7:55) PM PST

Series History

This is the first time that the Portland Timbers and Tijuana have played each other. 

Table Time

Look at the points, don’t look at the positions. The Timbers would need Austin, Chicago, Dallas, and LAFC to lose while also beating Tijuana by a significant enough margin to make up the goal differential gap to even have a chance of qualifying for the knockout stage. In addition to that, the Timbers also have to fend off the LONG LIST of MLS teams with 3 points. However, Austin and Dallas are pretty much guaranteed to lose. I’d like to focus on the Chicago game because it’s fascinating. The Fire are likely going to play a very strong XI, and the Timbers are playing them on Sunday. In an odd bit of symmetry, Cruz Azul is playing Tijuana on Sunday as well. Pretty cool!

Tijuana is already cooked. Tigres have gotten 6 points from 3 shootout wins. That’s hilarious. There’s still drama in this part of the bracket, but do you really care about it?

Final Whistle

Let's take a look at the ticketing websites to see how much a potential dead-rubber match featuring a head coach in his first game will cost to attend.

The get-in price for this game is above SEVENTY DOLLARS? Are you JOKING? It’s the first game of a new era, and it’s being played under these circumstances? I doubt that Xolos fans will show up to the same level that Club America fans did last weekend, but there’s still going to be a very strong contingent in the stands! Is this what Marti Cifuentes envisioned his first match in Portland would look like? Especially after watching raucous environments against Seattle, Dallas, and RSL at an ungodly hour in Catalonia? Was there any reason at all to have this tournament after the World Cup except to fulfill rich peoples’ desire for even more money and resources?

I’m afraid that I might be a hypocrite. Yeah, yeah, you all do it too. But the Timbers are not throwing in the towel for this game, regardless of what the stakes might be come kickoff. That attitude starts with the new head coach. “It’s a pity because I think overall these two games in the Leagues Cup have been very good. As I said, perhaps the only weaker period has been the second half against America. But otherwise, I thought the first half was brilliant and the game against Puebla was very strong. So it’s a pity that we could eventually be in that position. Anyway, we’re going to wait until tomorrow to understand what could happen, what’s gonna be the situation for the game.” 

Expand the knockout stage to 16 teams so one bad half doesn’t render further participation a moot point. “My approach anyway is to always respect every competition. The mindset is going to be always to win. It doesn’t matter the situation…My mindset here and one of the main reason I came to Timbers is because I feel that this organization has the potential to win and to fight for titles. And I said that to the players as a main message. Let’s introduce that winning mentality in everything we do from the small-sided games in the training to the friendly game in a very respectful way, always respecting the opposition. But that’s the approach that we’re always going to take. Try to win the game, try to see as many players as we can, and see how do they respond. I think we’re going to approach it with a lot of energy, that’s for sure.”

This game might be dead rubber from a stakes perspective in regards to Leagues Cup, but not in terms of needing to impress the new boss on his first day on the job. At worst, this game is a competitive friendly. At best, it’s a chance for the Timbers to pull off the improbable on the first day that Marti Cifuentes is on the touchline. So many unknowns. Let’s get another 90 under our belts. The quest continues.