The MLS link about Yahoo Sports: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...eague-be-streamed-live-yahoo-sports-platforms In addition these first leg games will be on Univision Deportes Network: First Leg Tuesday, February 19 Saprissa (CRC) v. Tigres UANL (MEX) 8:00 pm UDN Wednesday, February 20 CD Marathon (HON) v. Santos Laguna (MEX) 8:00 pm UDN (delay at 1:00 am) Alianza FC (SLV) v. CF Monterrey (MEX) 10:00 pm UDN Thursday, February 21 Sporting Kansas City (USA) v. Toluca FC (MEX) 8:00 pm UDN CS Herediano (CRC) v. Atlanta United (USA) 10:00 pm UDN Expect that Second Leg games involving Mexican teams will also be on UDN. Maybe others as well.
Should be good, I'll try and predict the whole bracket: Round 1: Monterrey Atlanta Toronto Toluca Houston UANL New York Santos L. QF: Atlanta Toronto UANL Santos L. SF: Atlanta Santos L. Final: Atlanta
Will CONCACAF ever find the best format for this competition, they keep changing it all the time, I would like to hear what people think about this.
They won't cause they suck. For start, I don't like the name. It is called League but there is no league play at all. LOL. I don't like the format too. It is too short, there are not so many MLS-LMX matches as there should be (and could be if group stage was played) - Asian confederation should be role model for them - there is one Japanese and one Korean team in each group, as those two countries dominate football there, just like Mexico and USA. They could just copy that format, with Costa Rica playing Australia/China role, and fill remaining 5-6 spots with teams from smaller leagues through preliminary stage. And then play in in March - October period.
I'l take the opposite view: It depends on what your goal is. In my view, the best format was the first one, with a true, four-team group stage...but the fans clearly didn't agree, with sparse attendance being the norm. And worse was the break between the group stage and the knockout round, so long that everyone had to remind themselves where we were by the time February rolled around. I was not a fan of the current format when it was announced, but last year made me eat my words: I have never seen teams, fans and TV networks as engaged with the tournament as it is now. Having two straight knockout series at the outset, practically rushing us into the most anticipated matchups, has indisputably worked.
Do you mean 2 straight knockout's as in a R16 and QF? Well they changed it again though, now making clubs have to qualify through CL, what do you think about this?
Yes. It makes the CL itself more interesting, but it is terribly unfair to Central America. Concacaf basically looked at Costa Rica and Honduras and said, "Yeah, we'll screw you over by taking away your one direct ticket to the CCL...but now you get a chance at three!"
Liga MX and MLS would object to clubs having to go through 4 CL rounds. The worst MLS clubs in the CCL don't deserve better treatment than the best Central American clubs, so I thought of a different qualifying format. Here is a proposal for each country having clubs start in the CCL, Qualifying Round 2, and Qualifying Round 1: Mexico: 4 (3-1-0) USA: 4 (2-2-0) Caribbean: 4 (1-0-3) Costa Rica: 3 (1-0-2) Honduras: 3 (0-1-2) Guatemala: 3 (0-1-2) Panama: 3 (0-1-2) El Salvador: 3 (0-1-2) Canada: 2 (1-1-0) Nicaragua: 2 (0-0-2) Belize: 1 (0-0-1) Total: 32 (8-8-16) Qualifying Round 2 would have 8 clubs starting and 8 winners from Qualifying Round 1. It's a simple format. Clubs starting in Qualifying Round 1 would need to play 12 games to win the CCL, which is the same amount as clubs who starting in the Group Stage when there were groups of 4. The Mexico and USA clubs starting in Qualifying Round 2 would need to play 10 games to win the CCL, which is the same amount as when there were groups of 3. I would have country coefficients so countries could have clubs start in earlier or later rounds and maybe gain or lose spots.
@Paul Calixte I currently no longer have fox sports, can I still watch the games online here in Mexico?
Quick question @ArsenalMetro : so if we'll now have six CL qualifiers starting next season, are they all gonna show up in the five-year club index as CL1-6 or as CRC1, HON1, etc.? And if it's the latter, can Honduras and Costa Rica retroactively get points for Olimpia's CCL run last year and whatever Herediano accomplishes this time around?
I have to think it's the country-based designation rather than CL1, etc. It feels way too random otherwise.
Scores? In bracket order.... Alianza (El Salvador) 0 - Monterrey 0 Herediano (Costa Rica) - Atlanta Independiente (Panama) 4 - Toronto 0 Sporting KC - Toluca Guastatoya (Guatemala) 0 - Houston Dynamo 1 Saprissa (CR) 1 - UANL 0 Atletico Pantoia (Dominican Republic) 0 - New York Red Bulls 2 Marathon (Hondorus) 2 - Santos Laguna 6 Anyone have any thoughts, I didn't get a chance to watch any games but hope to start watching today and will be watching some second legs. I was surprised to see Toronto get blown out.
Toronto looked ********ing awful. Red Bulls should have won by 7 but left their shooting boots in New Jersey. Alianza looked like the better team against Monterrey; they probably should have won. Saprissa's scoreline flatters them, because they could have gotten blown out with just some minor variation. The highlight of the round is Herediano - Atlanta, so I'm pretty excited for that tonight.
1-0 Herediano. Atlanta needs to be careful. This game is too wide open. The first minutes of the match were always going to be worrisome...
MLS and Liga MX both lost 3-0 or worse. With tonight's 3-0 win, this is the second time in @TheChampions League history (1968-present) that an American or @MLS team has beaten a Mexican side by 3 goals.Emphatic.#SKCvTOL | #SCCL2019 pic.twitter.com/Xp4oRPrTjT— Sporting KC Communications (@SportingKC_PR) February 22, 2019
Thursday results: 2019 CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 Home team first, times are ET First Leg Tuesday, February 19 Saprissa (CRC) 1-0 Tigres UANL (MEX) Club Atletico Independiente (PAN) 4-0 Toronto FC (CAN) CD Guastatoya (GUA) 0-1 Houston Dynamo (USA) Wednesday, February 20 CD Marathon (HON) 2-6 Santos Laguna (MEX) Club Atletico Pantoja (DOM) 0-2 NY Red Bulls (USA) Alianza FC (SLV) 0-0 CF Monterrey (MEX) Thursday, February 21 Sporting Kansas City (USA) 3-0 Toluca FC (MEX) CS Herediano (CRC) 3-1 Atlanta United (USA) Second Leg Tuesday, February 26 Houston Dynamo (USA) v. CD Guastatoya (GUA) 8:00 pm Yahoo/UDN Toronto FC (CAN) v. Club Atletico Independiente (PAN) 8:00 pm Yahoo/TSN4/UDN Tigres UANL (MEX) v. Deportivo Saprissa (CRC) 10:00 pm Yahoo/UDN Wednesday, February 27 NY Red Bulls (USA) v. Club Atletico Pantoja (DOM) 8:00 pm Yahoo/UDN Santos Laguna (MEX) v. CD Marathon (HON) 8:00 pm Yahoo/UDN CF Monterrey (MEX) v. Alianza FC (SLV) 10:00 pm Yahoo/UDN Thursday, February 28 Atlanta United (USA) v. CS Herediano (CRC) 8:00 pm Yahoo/UDN Toluca FC (MEX) v. Sporting Kansas City (USA) 10:00 pm Yahoo/UDN NOTE: I'm not sure which games are being broadcast on UDN. The Quarterfinals start on March 5.
It was a pretty exciting night on Thursday. The Yahoo sports page worked pretty well for watching games, unfortunately couldn't get them going on the Yahoo app on Roku or Apple TV, so I watched on the computer- monitored more like because I had other stuff going on. This tournament is a lot of fun.
This week's action also sets up quite the race for seeding in next year's edition Based on the current Club Index, and dropping the the results from the 2013-14 CCL: MEX1-3 and CAN1 are well ahead of the rest, while USA3 and USA4 (this year's Houston and NYRB, respectively) look safe. That leaves two more openings in Pot 1. The five contenders, before this week: USA1 47 MEX4 46 USA2 43 PAN1 42 CRC1 35 And today (4 participation points + this week's results): USA1 [Atlanta United] 51 MEX4 [Toluca FC] 50 USA2 [Sporting Kansas City] 50 PAN1 [CA Independiente] 49 CRC1 [Deportivo Saprissa] 42 So if Sporting KC hold on for a draw - or lose by little enough to advance and then win at least one leg of their quarterfinal series - it will be enough for the US and Mexico to switch fortunes, with MEX4 now likely to face an MLS opponent in the R16 and finish on the road, while the US gets top seeds for all four berths. ...Unless Atlanta crash and burn, while Independiente pull off one more win in this competition. In which case, we'll finally have a non-North American top seed, and those of us that hold the Supporters' Shield as a greater accomplishment than MLS Cup will get to guffaw at the latter officially getting second-class treatment.
How much latitude does MLS have to adjust its qualifying slots? Like, if USA1 ends up in pot 2 and USA3 in pot 1, can the league just say that for next year MLS Cup winner gets USA3? Or at least that if the same team qualifies for both that the hand-me-down gets the pot 2 berth? It seems like the sort of thing that *shouldn't* be allowed, but it also seems like if CONCACAF really gave a rat's ass they wouldn't have come up with this stupid system where teams can play themselves into lower seedings in the first place.