The Union vs. Cruz Azul Leagues Cup game has Philly more interested than usual

The Leagues Cup tournament between teams from Major League Soccer and Mexico’s Liga MX often seems to have more critics than fans. But there seems to be buzz building about the Union’s group stage game Sunday vs. Mexico’s Cruz Azul because there was an unusual spike in search engine traffic about on Tuesday, a little less than a week leading up to the game.

Here’s what you should know for the game, how to get tickets, and what’s at stake in the tournament.

Sunday at 8 p.m. at Subaru Park in Chester.

The TV broadcast will be on FS1 in English and UniMás and TUDN in Spanish. UniMás is available over the air in Philadelphia on channel 28.

Live streaming online will be via Apple TV. The game will be available free of charge — you won’t need to have Apple’s MLS Season Pass package to watch it.

Apple’s 10-year, $2.5 billion broadcast deal with MLS (that started last year) means that many Union games aren’t on traditional TV anymore. Sunday’s game will be just the Union’s seventh appearance on TV this year: four in the Concacaf Champions Cup, two so far in the regular season, and this one.

» READ MORE: Jim Curtin wants the Union to win the Leagues Cup, but some fans are protesting it

Tickets are available via the Union’s website. The lowest price is $47 before fees for an end-line seat, and as happens with everything these days, there are a lot of fees. The cheapest sideline seat is $90 before fees. Most of them are over $100, with some as expensive as $175.

Parking costs $30 to $40, depending on the lot, or $33 if you buy in advance via the Union’s website.

No, and Union fans have complained about it since the team started 15 years ago. The best you can do is take the Wilmington regional rail line to the Chester Transportation Center, then take a free shuttle bus that the Union runs from there.

The last train back to Center City from Chester leaves at 10:32 p.m., so you have to hope the game doesn’t run too long. If it ends in regulation, it should be over at around 10 p.m.

» READ MORE: Subaru Park will host Wednesday's D.C. United-Santos Laguna Leagues Cup game at the last minute

No, but a tied game goes to a penalty kick shootout.

The Union won their opening group stage game last Saturday over Charlotte FC, 1-0, at Subaru Park. Cruz Azul will be the Union’s second and final group opponent. Before then, Charlotte hosts Cruz Azul on Wednesday (8 p.m., Apple TV).

Probably not, because the top two teams in each group advance to the round of 32.

» READ MORE: Tai Baribo’s goal gives the Union a 1-0 win over Charlotte in their Leagues Cup opener

A tournament created by MLS and Liga MX whose main purpose is to make a lot of money. Mexican teams are some of the most popular soccer teams in the United States because of the immigrant populations in big cities, and this brings them to American stadiums.

The tournament creates U.S. vs. Mexican club games that TV networks like, and that Apple can sell subscriptions with to fans of Mexican teams.

The actual benefits are that the top three finishers in the tournament qualify for the Concacaf Champions Cup, the top club tournament in North and Central America that determines the champion of the continent. Champions Cup winners qualify for FIFA’s Club World Cup, which is scheduled to be played next year in the United States.

The Leagues Cup was popular when it launched last season because superstar Lionel Messi arrived at Inter Miami right when the tournament kicked off. (He played at Subaru Park in the tournament, the only time he’s ever been to town.)

» READ MORE: The Union have serious striker depth again, and Jim Curtin is actually using it

This year, Messi is injured, so MLS has to rely on marketing to Mexican fans to buy tickets and watch broadcasts. The most famous American name in the tournament might be 14-year-old Union phenom Cavan Sullivan, who became the youngest pro athlete to play a game in American sports history earlier this month.

But Sullivan didn’t play against Charlotte because (shockingly) he’s 14 and not ready to play every first-team game yet. We won’t know until later this week whether he’ll play vs. Cruz Azul.

MLS blew a five-week hole in its regular-season schedule to create the Leagues Cup from scratch. That drew piles of complaints, especially when MLS tried to effectively pull itself out of the U.S. Open Cup, the 120-year-old national championship for club teams at every level nationwide.

MLS wanted to send its reserve teams — basically young prospects and backups — to play in the Open Cup instead of its first-team squads. The U.S. Soccer Federation, American soccer’s governing body, blocked the league from doing that, so MLS compromised by sending just eight teams this year.

There’s no word yet on what MLS will do next year, but few people expect MLS to return to full participation in the Open Cup next year. The Leagues Cup, meanwhile, probably isn’t going anywhere.

» READ MORE: This soccer team missed Philly’s inaugural Unity Cup. Eight years later, they have ‘finally arrived’