Mexican champions Tigres would have a game on Wednesday against Atletico Junior in the group stage of the Copa Libertadores, the premier club competition on the American continent.

However, to the general disconcertion of Mexican soccer fans, Tigres went out at the preliminary stage, losing 3-2 over two legs against Union Española after fielding a team made up of players on the fringe of the first team.

It wasn´t that the Tigres reserves didn´t go out to win, or that they didn´t come close.

What fans of Mexican soccer were upset about was the fact what is rightly regarded as Mexico´s best team wasn´t on the field and hasn´t made the group stage of the competition.

Tigres coach Ricardo Ferretti has a history of giving secondary importance to international competitions, but he has never, arguably, had a team of such quality to go and win Mexico´s first Copa Libertadores.

To be fair to Brazilian Ferretti, he was always very clear about getting together two different squads and that the focus would be to recapture the league title for the second straight season.

The distances involved for Mexican teams in the Copa Libertadores can be prohibitive. For Tigres, the midweek trip to Santiago, Chile was further from Monterrey than Alaska, around a 10 hour flight.

Ferretti simply didn´t believe his usual first team could compete on two fronts.

Nevertheless, fans have missed out on watching on Tigres pitting their talents against the best clubs Brazil, Argentina and Colombia have to offer; a team that offers the experience of Damian Alvarez, Lucas Lobos and Carlos Salcido meshed together with some of Mexico´s best young players like Jorge Torres Nilo, Hugo Ayala and Enrique Palos.

Aside from Tigres , the remaining Mexican teams in the Libertadores - Chivas and Cruz Azul – arevowing to compete both domestically and continentally.

Both teams have finished runners-up on one occasion, Cruz Azul in 2001 and Chivas in 2010.

Chivas owner Jorge Vergara has long coveted the famous trophy, as well as the bragging rights that would come with being the first Mexican team to lift it.

With the Guadalajara team struggling in the league with just one point from five games, there is a feeling that Chivas could actually prioritize the Libertadores if their domestic woes continue.

Cruz Azul travel south with coach Enrique Meza promising to fight for the title, and offering an insight into what most fans of Mexican soccer would´ve loved to hear from Ferretti.

Said Meza: “We will struggle and fight, we want to be in the competition and you won´t hear the team complaining about tiredness, injuries or the number of games.”

Chivas start off their Copa Libertadores campaign at home to Deportivo Quito (Tuesday, 9:10 p.m. ET).

Cruz Azul travel away to Paraguay to face Nacional (Wednesday, 4:45 p.m. ET).

By Tom Marshall (@MexicoWorldCup)