It's unusual because there aren't playoffs in most of the top leagues in the world, and the leagues in Concacaf other than MLS have playoffs but no reward for a regular season champion. Let's say Pot 1 for 2020 has 3 from Liga MX, 3 from USA, 1 from CAN, and 1 from PAN. Assuming country separation, the Liga MX club and MLS club in Pot 2 would be hoping to face the Panamanian club. You could have two Round of 16 matchups between Liga MX and MLS and one between a Panamanian club and a Caribbean club.
Games are back on tonight, Tuesday, Feb 26. Houston Dynamo (USA) v. CD Guastatoya (GUA) 8:00 pm Yahoo/UDN (first leg 1-0 Houston) Toronto FC (CAN) v. Club Atletico Independiente (PAN) 8:00 pm Yahoo/TSN4/UDN (4-0 Independiente) Tigres UANL (MEX) v. Deportivo Saprissa (CRC) 10:00 pm Yahoo/UDN (1-0, Saprissa) The pick of the lot is the Tigres - Saprissa game in my opinion.
Updating the race for Pot 1 berths next season, 'cause I'm that much of a nerd: USA1 [Atlanta United] 51 PAN1 [CA Independiente] 51 MEX4 [Toluca FC] 50 USA2 [Sporting Kansas City] 50 CRC1 [Deportivo Saprissa] 42 As long as Independiente outperform Atlanta from this point forward (and assuming no draw between Toluca and SKC), they'll do Panama's next #1 seed a solid.
CA Independiente got a 1-1. Saprissa is out with a 5-1 loss that they trailed 4-0, so they can't pass Toluca or Sporting Kansas City. Houston went down 1-0 (which would have caused PKs) before substitute Mauro Manotas scored twice for a 2-1 win and 3-1 aggregate.
Houston play Tigres in the next round. Texas v Monterrey, (Nuevo Leon state) is almost a derby. That should be great.
Libres y Lokos won't have to travel out of Houston to support their team this time around Those who've been here a bit longer may remember Tigres' hinchas in Houston displaying a big banner over in Seattle when the Sounders eliminated Tigres in the 2012-13 CCL.
So the quarterfinals are set: Santos Laguna (MEX) vs. New York Red Bulls (USA) Tigres UANL (MEX) vs. Houston Dynamo (USA) --- Sporting Kansas City (USA) vs. CA Independiente (PAN) Atlanta United (USA) vs. CF Monterrey (MEX) And as far as next year's concerned, it's confirmed: MEX4's going down to Pot 2 USA1 [Atlanta United] 55 USA2 [Sporting Kansas City] 54 PAN1 [CA Independiente] 51 MEX4 [Toluca FC] 50 CRC1 [Deportivo Saprissa] 42
So basically SKC v CAI is for a Pot 1 seeding next year? Or is it possible that CAI could win the series but still end up below USA2?
It depends on how Concacaf elects to view the CL slots next year. If they classify them as "SCL1, SCL2," etc., then this won't really matter. If they go by what country they represent: PAN1, CRC2, etc., then you're basically right. There are a bunch of scenarios where CAI wins but doesn't leap over USA2 though. If they split results evenly (each team wins a leg, two draws), and CAI advanced, they would only gain 1 point relative to USA2. Concacaf gives 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, and 1 for advancing.
I wonder why the highlights on the CONCACAF site are 4-5 minutes long for the Mexican team games, but only one minute for the MLS teams. And the Kansas City one didn't have either of KC's goals. Bizarre and annoying.
NOTE: This is the schedule that CONCACAF is showing right now. I'm not 100% sure that it is correct. Tigres, for instance, is saying that their home leg is March 13. I'll update this if it changes. 2019 CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals Home team first, times are ET First Leg Tuesday, March 5 NY Red Bulls (USA) v. Santos Laguna (MEX) 8:00 pm Yahoo/UDN Houston Dynamo (USA) v. Tigres UANL (MEX) 10:00 pm Yahoo/UDN Wednesday, March 6 Club Atletico Independiente (PAN) v. Sporting Kansas City (USA) 8:00 pm Yahoo/UDN CF Monterrey (MEX) v. Atlanta United (USA) 10:00 pm Yahoo/UDN Second Leg Tuesday, March 12 Santos Laguna (MEX) v. NY Red Bulls (USA) 8:00 pm Yahoo/UDN Tigres UANL (MEX) v. Houston Dynamo (USA) 10:00 pm Yahoo/UDN Wednesday, March 13 Atlanta United (USA) v. CF Monterrey (MEX) 8:00 pm Yahoo/UDN Thursday, March 14 Sporting Kansas City (USA) v. Club Atletico Independiente (PAN) 8:00 pm Yahoo/UDN The Semifinals start on April 2.
https://www.concacafchampionsleague.com/en/schedule-results#tab_team=rounds says your schedule is correct except for the times on March 12, which will be 9:00 P.M. and 11:00 P.M. I'm happy that three of the four second legs are 8:00 P.M. or 9:00 P.M.
Same thing happened last season, the last Central American side standing was Panamanian. Then again it's a question how much of that has to do with a Panamanian side facing either the weakest North American side, or a North American side in complete disarray.
Looking ahead to hosting possibilities for the semifinals (i.e. finishing the semifinal series at home): In the top half of the bracket, Tigres are behind the 8-ball as the only side not to pass through the R16 with a perfect record, and could really use a victory in Houston. Otherwise, both Santos Laguna and the Red Bulls have a nice leg up on GD, so the winner of that series is the likeliest to do the honors in the following round. In the bottom half, OTOH Sporting Kansas City were the only side to pass through the R16 with a perfect record. That is, if they manage to win both legs against Independiente, they're guaranteed to finish their semifinal series at home.
Looks like someone fell asleep at the wheel: normally Concacaf publishes an article confirming the schedule for the next round in the CCL, but but this time there's been nothing other than updating the ticker on their website. Worth mentioning that just as Concacaf cleverly noted that all of the R16 matchups were between sides who had never faced each other before, it still holds true in the quarterfinals: - NYRB never even made it far enough to face Mexican opposition in the CCL until last year, so they naturally haven't faced Santos Laguna before. - I'm taking MLS's word that Houston and Tigres have never met - ok, to avoid complete laziness, I checked the results from the defunct Superliga and they did not play each other there either. - And of course, since this is Independiente and Atlanta's first-ever continental campaigns, every match-up here is a first for them.
Missed the games but saw the highlights. They looked like good games. Bad night for MLS. Santas Laguna won 2-0 at Red Bulls; and, Tigres won 2-0 at home to Houston. While neither series is done (although RedBulls are in a world of trouble), an all northern-Mexico semi-final is looking likely. The other quarterfinals start tonight, Wed. March 6.
A couple updates: 1) MLS got teabagged, let's get that out of the way 2) The semifinals, as things stand (first team hosts second leg): Santos Laguna (MEX) vs. Tigres UANL (MEX) CA Independiente (PAN) vs. CF Monterrey (MEX) Mind you, the Panamanians currently have the edge on GD by just one. 3) The race for Pot 1 berths next season: MEX1-3, CAN1 and USA3 were all on 60+ points for the next Concacaf Club Index before this CCL even started, so they're all safe. The remaining three berths: USA4 [Houston Dynamo] 60 - I'm willing to call this one safe as well USA1 [Atlanta United] 55 USA2 [Sporting Kansas City] 54 --- PAN1 [CA Independiente] 54 MEX4 [Toluca FC] 50 HON1 [Marathón] 45 CRC1 [Deportivo Saprissa] 42 So for next week: if Independiente wins or draws, then PAN1's officially moving up to Pot 1. A win would keep USA2 dow in the Pot B cellar, while a draw would leave USA1 and USA2 tied on 55 points - at which point, the logical thing would be to let USA1 stay up on the virtue of being the higher seed in their country. So, this being Concacaf, I naturally have no idea how they would decide it.