In the OFC, Groups C and D are currently being played. Auckland City struggled in their opening match. They beat Western United of Solomon Islands 2:1 thanks to a penalty in the 86th minute. The final qualifying round in CAF is also on ongoing. Nigeria's newcomers Rivers United convincingly beat Sudanese power Al Merrikh 3:0 at home. Elsewhere Al Ahli Tripoli beat FUS Rabat 2:0 and this scoreline ties into Morocco's under-performance as indicated earlier. TP Mazembe only achieved a 1:1 at home against Zimbabwe's Central African Pharmaceutical Society (CAPS) United. Yes, that is the name. I finally caught my first AFC CL game of 2017 tonight. Al Ahli Dubai against Saudi's Al Taawoun. Security was very relaxed this time. Unfortunately the game fell short. A disappointing 0:0 draw for Al Ahli.
As for the 2017 host team it looks like it's going to be Abu Dhabi's Al Jazira. With only five rounds left in the Arabian Gulf League they are six points ahead of Al Ahli and have a fairly easy schedule remaining: @ Dibba (11) Al Shabab (8) @ Hatta (9) Al Nasr (6) Al Dhafra (7) Maybe Al Shabab and Al Nasr can take some points from them but I doubt it will be enough. Depending on the final stadium choice in Abu Dhabi they could be playing in their actual home ground. Of course should Al Ain, Al Ahli or Al Wahda win this year's ACL then they would take the host spot.
The CONCACAF semis start tonight and there has been some amusing social media banter between Dallas, Pachuca and.....Montreal of all teams (Montreal beat Pachuca in 2015). Bonjour @FCDallas, check your mailbox, we're sending a little luck your way. Pachuca ain't got nothing on you! #IMFC #DTID #CCL pic.twitter.com/efPv6nciHv— CF Montréal (@cfmontreal) March 6, 2017 Someone needs to tell Dallas that Pachuca is known as "Los Tuzos" (the Gophers).
Tigres UANL - Vancouver Whitecaps 2:0 Tigres with one foot in the final. Vargas with a well-taken goal. Dallas-Pachuca is tonight. In UEFA Leicester City continued their fairy-tale run to the quarterfinals. Sevilla just can't get their groove on in a competition not named Europa League.
Auckland City qualified to semifinals in Oceania. One team to qualify left - Tefana (group host team) of Tahiti or Marist Fire of Solomon Islands. Tefana has 6 pts, Marist has 3 pts. They play each other. If Erakor win their match, Marist has to win by at least two goals, else they need just to win. I hope draw sets Auckland - Wellington semifinal, it would be boring to see another final between them (it would be third time in a row).
MLS said Tigres had 79 percent of the possession. Tigres had 2 clearances and Vancouver had 35. Vancouver did not have a shot on target. If Vancouver hadn't scored an own goal or could have kept it 1:0 rather than allowing a goal in the 87th minute, they would have had a chance. I don't see them winning by 3 or winning in extra time with the score 2:0 after regulation.
Indeed. I wouldn't put money on Vancouver advancing. Let's see how Dallas fares tonight. Vancouver's Carl Robinson confirms 'gap' between MLS and Liga MX The UEFA Champions League R16 concludes tonight with Monaco-ManCity and Leverkusen-Atletico Madrid. PS: Australia (WSW) finally got their first 2017 ACL win today. Over shockingly bad K-League champions FC Seoul.
And Ligue 1 stays alive thanks to Monaco. What a series! We had some very entertaining UEFA R16 ties. The final eight clubs in Europe are: Leicester City (England) AS Monaco (France) Bayern Munich (Germany) Borussia Dortmund (Germany) Juventus FC (Italy) Atletico Madrid (Spain) FC Barcelona (Spain) Real Madrid (Spain) Draw is on Friday... So much for Abu Dhabi owned Manchester City doing a victory lap in Abu Dhabi in December.
Technically, they would take the ACL winner's spot in the quarterfinals, and the best non-UAE finisher in the ACL would take the host spot.
Pachuca had better statistics including 58 percent of the possession. In the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 CCLs, there were six Knockout Round two leg series between MLS (including Montreal) and Liga MX. MLS clubs had 0 wins, 5 draws, and 1 loss in their home games. Therefore a win at home is better than an MLS club does hosting a Liga MX club a lot of the time.
Yes, what I meant is a UAE Asian champion would take Al Jazira's place in the competition (although in a different spot). Seeing how Al Ain and Al Ahli both made the ACL final in the last two years Al Jazira may regret collapsing in the ACL group stage already (zero points in three matches). PS: Came across this interesting piece on a group of Shanghai Shenhua fans:
Oceanian final four teams are now known: Magenta (New Caledonia) Team Wellington, Auckland City (New Zealand) Tefana (Tahiti) Draw is in few days. Semis and final are played on home-away basis. Auckland City today trashed Malampa Revivors of Vanuatu 11-0 and set new biggest win in CL era.
UEFA Draw: Atletico Madrid - Leicester City Borussia Dortmund - Monaco Bayern Munich - Real Madrid Juventus - FC Barcelona Good draw. Two real crackers in there and two relative "underdogs" will make the semis to keep things interesting. In South America - Chapecoense, struck by tragedy last year - achieved a historic victory over Venezuela's Zulia:
And then they lost to Lanus at home after taking the lead at the start of the second half. Barcelona - PSG happened in Africa today. In historic season, where group stage field was (finaly!) expanded to 16 teams, Al-Merreikh of Sudan overcome Nigerian side Rivers after losing 3-0 in leg 1. They won 4-0 today (3-0 HT). Beside them, Sundowns, reigning champion, scored in 80th minute to go past KCCA of Uganda, Coton Sport, Wydad (after penalties, Gabonese side scored in 90+2 to force penalties but failed to defeat Moroccan giant) and USM Alger also qualified. Al-Ahly Tripoli and Zanaco (Zambia) secured their group stage debuts. Remaining nine matches are scheduled for Sunday. TP Mazembe goes to Zimbabwe after 1-1 at home, Wits of South Africa hosts Al-Ahly who won 1-0 last week, Ethiopian champion Saint George looks to secure first ever qualification (of any Ethiopian side) at home and they have 1-0 advantage. All losers will play in Confederation Cup playoff for group stage.
Stunningly TP Mazembe went out against Zimbabwe's CAPS United. Al Ahly got the job done against South Africa's Bidvest Wits. Where will Al Ahli Tripoli play their home matches? Tunisia again? CAF Group Stage
I suppose so, I think they played most, if not all, of their matches, since Civil war, in Tunisia. Zimbabwean side CAPS United arrived in helicopters on Harare Stadium pitch for their game vs TP Mazembe. #CAFCL pic.twitter.com/JPBpPVOOMf— Lütfi Ibragimowiç Berdiwadabekow (@LotfiWada) March 19, 2017 OFC semifinal 1 Tefana - Auckland City 2 Magenta - Team Wellington Teams listed first host legs #1. Semifinal 1 winner will host final leg #1. It all leads to third straight ACFC-TW final, but I hope one of Francophone teams spoils the party.
We finally have full clarity on the two host venues: 1. Zayed Sports City Stadium (Abu Dhabi / 43,000) 2. Hazza Bin Zayed Stadiums (Al Ain / 23,000) Zayed Sports City also hosted the 2009 and 2010 final. Initially the word was that ZSC wasn't going to host due to renovations for the 2019 Asian Nations Cup. Not sure what has changed but there you have it. That means Al Jazira won't play in their home ground if they win the league. Big week coming up with CONCACAF determining its two finalists...
Just saw this now but my pick before the match was Pachuca 2:0. That was of course almost the final score but a very exciting final seven minutes or so made it 3:1 Pachuca just when Dallas thought they had forced extra time. Very entertaining match, glad I got up this morning and hunted down a stream.
The second semifinal concludes tonight when Vancouver host Tigres. Anything but an all-Mexican final would be a surprise at this point although the Whitecaps will try everything - including leaving the roof open at BC Place. ❄️ or ☔️ = ROOF OPEN this Wednesday. Wear a tuque 🇨🇦 , #VWFC fans. 😿 Tix: https://t.co/k9YB13Ppms #RiseUpRainCity #OurClubForCanada pic.twitter.com/ZO3iDZFa6f— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) April 4, 2017 @jared9999 - Looking forward to the CCL final? Your first continental final?