GUADALUPE — Germán Berterame scored twice as CF Monterrey, showing its class, blanked Canada's Forge FC 3-0 on Tuesday for a 5-0 aggregate win in their CONCACAF Champions Cup first-round series.
Leading 2-0 from the first leg Feb. 5 in Hamilton, Ont., the Liga MX side kept rolling with goals from Berterame (19th and 58th minute) and Jordi Cortizo (48th minute).
Monterrey will face either the Vancouver Whitecaps or Costa Rica's Deportivo Saprissa in the round of 16. The Whitecaps, who qualified for the CONCACAF competition by winning the Canadian Championship, open play Feb. 20 in Costa Rica with the return leg Feb. 27 at B.C. Place Stadium.
It marked the third time that Forge has fallen at the first hurdle in CONCACAF's elite club competition. But the calendar is against the Canadian Premier League side with the two Monterrey games its first competitive test since a 2-1 loss on Nov. 9 to Cavalry FC in the CPL championship game.
Forge does not start the CPL regular season until April 5. Monterrey is in season, in contrast.
"You need to be perfect on the pitch against a team like this," said Forge coach and technical director Bobby Smyrniotis. "And if you're not perfect, and you don't have a little bit of luck on your side, yeah, it's not going to go your way at this point of the season."
It was 25 Celsius at kickoff in Estadio BBVA, one of the Mexican stadiums that will host 2026 World Cup play.
Berterame, an Argentine-born Mexican international, added to the Monterrey lead in the 19th minute, rising high to head home a well-flighted free kick after Tristan Borges was yellow-carded for taking a Monterrey player down.
Cortizo, who scored in the first leg on a highlight-reel free kick, took advantage of a breakdown in the Forge defence early in the second half to beat goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat with a low shot.
Berterame scored his second in the 58th minute, angling a shot past Koleilat after being put in alone.
Monterrey has now scored in 21 consecutive games in CONCACAF Champions Cup play (17-2-2), the longest active run in the competition.
Forge had its scoring chances in the Feb. 5 opening leg but failed to convert them on a chilly, slippery night at Hamilton Stadium, formerly known as Tim Hortons Field. While Monterrey outshot Forge 19-7 (7-3 in shots on target) in the first leg, the CP side had more possession (52.6 per cent).
Forge went with an unchanged starting 11 from the first leg.
Koleilat had to be sharp to stop Mexican international Jesus Corona from close range in the eighth minute. At the other end, Borges hit the crossbar with a shot from just outside the penalty box in the 13th minute.
Monterrey had 63 per cent possession, outshot Forge 8-4 (4-0 in shots on target) and six corners to the Canadians' one in the first half.
Forge had back-to-back chances in the 76th and 78th minutes but Monterrey goalkeeper Luis Cardenas stopped Maxime Filion and Alessandro Hojabrpour. Cardenas made another diving save in the 81st minute.
Forge defender Marko Jevremovic needed treatment in the 84th minute after being scythed down by Monterrey's Jorge Rodriguez, who was cautioned on the play.
Monterrey finished fifth in the Liga MX Apertura at 9-4-4 and sits 13th in the early days of the Clausura at 1-2-3. It has won the CONCACAF competition five times, most recently in 2021, and made it to last year's semifinals — knocking off Lionel Messi and Miami along the way — before losing 5-2 on aggregate to the Columbus Crew.
Veteran Spanish defender Sergio Ramos, who just signed with Monterrey, watched from the stands Tuesday.
The 38-year-old spent 16 years with Real Madrid, winning 22 trophies including five La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues. Ramos left the Spanish powerhouse in the summer of 2021, signing with Paris Saint-Germain before joining Sevilla, his boyhood club. His contract with Sevilla expired last summer.
Forge qualified for the Champions Cup by finishing atop the 2024 CPL regular-season standings at 15-8-5. It marks Forge's sixth appearance in a continental tournament including the now-defunct second-tier CONCACAF League.
Forge lost 5-2 on aggregate to Chivas Guadalajara in last year's Champions Cup and 4-1 to Cruz Azul in its tournament debut in 2022.
The Hamilton side made it to the semifinals of the 2021 CONCACAF League, losing to Honduras' Motagua on away goals.
In other Canadian action in the 27-team CONCACAF Champions Cup, Calgary's Cavalry plays Pumas UNAM on Thursday in Mexico City's Estadio Olímpico Universitario, looking to build on its 2-1 upset win last Thursday in Langford, B.C.
The Cavalry-Pumas winner moves on to play Costa Rica's Alajuelense.
The 2025 champion earns a berth in the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2025.
The Canadian Press
