Angel Correa scored the only goal as Tigres UANL took a first-leg lead in their Champions Cup semi-final after beating Nashville SC 1-0 at GEODIS Park. 

Correa struck the decisive blow in the 33rd minute with a half-volley that beat Brian Schwake, leaving Nashville work to do ahead of next week's second leg. 

Kick-off was delayed an hour because of a severe thunderstorm in the area, but Nashville came out firing and thought they had taken a sixth-minute lead when Hany Mukhtar headed home, but his effort was quickly ruled out for offside. 

Nashville, who were without star striker Sam Surridge through injury, also lost Edvard Tagseth in the 18th minute, and their misery was further compounded 12 minutes before the break.

After Cristian Espinoza had seen his powerful strike tipped over the crossbar by Nahuel Guzman, Tigres hit them with a sucker punch at the other end moments later when Correa instinctively picked out the net from 25 yards out, despite Schwake's best efforts to keep the ball out. 

Both sides struggled to create clear-cut chances after the break, the best of which fell to Tigres' Marcelo Flores in the 73rd minute, but his shot was easily gathered by Schwake. 

Onto the second leg pic.twitter.com/zxYVtRAL4p

— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) April 29, 2026

Data Debrief: Correa showcases his class 

A World Cup winner with Argentina, Correa once again stood up to another big occasion as he pushed Tigres closer to a first Champions Cup final since 2020, an edition they went on to win, with another classy midfield display. 

The Argentine finished with team-high totals for chances created (four), total duels (12) and possession won in the final third (two), while only Fernando Gorriaran (15) played more passes in the final third than Correa's 13. 

Tigres have still yet to lose a semi-final first-leg in this competition (six matches unbeaten), dating back to 2008, and they were deserving of their win here after registering an expected goals (xG) total of 1.64 from their 13 shots to Nashville's 0.34 from their nine attempts.