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Before coronavirus rendered sports temporarily frozen — New York City FC had a chance to make a massive statement.

Tigres visited New Jersey last Wednesday for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals — precisely the type of game NYCFC needs to be winning if they are to stake their place among the North American soccer elite.

“Of course Tigres is the favorite,” manager Ronny Deila said at a press conference before the game. “But we know what we can do when we are at our best.”

The Mexican side was the runner-up in last year’s tournament, and advanced to the quarters this year courtesy of a stoppage time header from their goalie against El Salvadorian outfit Alianza. To beat them, NYCFC couldn’t just be good. They needed to be ruthless.

That didn’t quite happen on Wednesday.

No one who watched the game would accuse NYCFC of being out of its depth. The first 30 minutes were a clinic in attacking play — aside from finishing. Alex Callens blasted over from close off a corner. Ismael Tajouri-Shradi couldn’t capitalize with Tigres goalie Nahuel Guzma in no man’s land. Héber missed a chance laid to him by Alex Ring.

Against a lesser opponent, these chances may have aged as signs of progress before an inevitable breakthrough. Against Tigres, they were a desperate plea for the Mexican outfit to punish them.

They did just that in the game’s dying moments. Eduardo Vargas — ineffective for most of the match — bundled in a rebound past Sean Johnson to take a 1-0 lead (and a valuable away goal) back to Mexico. Tigres imposed themselves more in the second half, and were the side closer to scoring as the match wore on. But by and large, they were not deserved winners of the match — a lesson that should stick with NYCFC.

Winning “ugly” has always been used as a barometer in sports, but capitalizing on one’s strong play should be too. NYCFC can play pretty, expansive soccer, but can they step on an opponents’ neck when they’re given the chance?

Tigres deserve credit for piecing together a difficult win, but they should’ve been out of the match — or at least down a goal — before their dramatic winner occurred.

If the Champions League resumes this season, NYCFC will need to be far more ruthless to survive.

Red Bulls still the same team

The Red Bulls haven’t played since March 7 — a 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake — so there isn’t much new information to assess with MLS suspended for (at least) 30 days.

When New York does take the field again, it should have back star center back Aaron Long, who had yet to play in MLS with a hamstring injury. Given the CDC has recommended all events of more than 50 people be cancelled for the next eight weeks, the 30-day league suspension may be optimistic. Long, who was listed as “probable” against RSL despite sitting, should be available whenever play resumes.

For now, our perception of the Red Bulls as a borderline playoff team should remain the same. FiveThirtyEight gives New York a 55 percent chance of making the postseason from a crowded Eastern Conference, and the squad looks far different from last year’s sixth-seeded team.

The team’s two most used fullbacks from 2019 (Kemar Lawrence and Michael Murillo) are gone, as is starting goalie Luis Robles and club legend Bradley-Wright Phillips (who only played a bit role last season). This is not a team bereft of talent — Kaku and Daniel Royer are high-end offensive talents — but expect some growing pains on the other side of the field.

If there is even a postseason to qualify for, this team will have to claw its way there.