2019 CONCACAF Champions League Thread

Go90 was a Verizon product. Perhaps Verizon still owns the U.S. domestic rights.

 

Atlanta is one point from winning the two-season aggregate table, with a six point lead over the Red Bulls with two games to go. The Red Bulls would win the tiebreaker on total wins if they managed to make up the full six-point deficit.

For the #2 position in the aggregate table, relevant only if someone already qualified wins MLS Cup, NYRB have a five point lead over NYC. The Red Bulls also have the tiebreaker advantage here, so one point for them or any points lost by NYC would clinch the #2 spot.

 

Has LAFC clinched the double wooden spoon?

 

Colorado - 60
LAFC - 56

LA has Vancouver (H), Kansas City (A).
Colorado has San Jose (A), Dallas (H).

 

I'm conflicted by my desire to have SKC finish top 2 in the west and Colorado to be bottom of a two year table behind an expansion team with only one season of play.

 

Atlanta has officially clinched the aggregate spot that would typically go to the Supporter's Shield winner.

 

MBS will provide an intimidating atmosphere for teams like Club America.

 

Really hoping Atlanta holds onto their stars, because they have the potential for a really deep run.

 

Is that correct? This spot would have originally went to the 2017 MLS Cup winner. That was open because a Canadian team (Toronto) won that Cup. Why isn't this USA1?

 

Because of the calendar change there was always going to be 1 weird year of qualification.

The league announced how this was going to work in September 2017, prior to TFC even winning the title.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017...hampions-league-qualifiers-are-determined-mls

Honestly it sorta worked out for the best that a Canadian team wont the title in 2017 because i think an American team could have felt justifiably pissed off if winning it didn't qualify them for anything.

edit: wait, scratch some of what i said. The league sort of made it up after TFC won the title.

I think it was a pretty sensible decision, but that's been debated around here.

 

I also don't know that it's ever been explicitly stated, but the other assumption is that if someone doubles up on qualification routes by winning the MLS Cup, that the excess seed would go to the runner-up in the aggregate standings.

The Red Bulls are locked in as that #2, so they should qualify if either Atlanta or SKC wins the cup.

 

How is it determined which US team goes to Pot B? Can't find any explanation other than Wiki saying that SKC can still qualify as USA2 which will send them to Pot B in the drawing. Tigres, Toronto, Monterrey, Santos, Toluca, Atlanta United, Houston Dynamo and SKC are all in Pot A but can change depending on who wins MLS Cup but I can't find as to how or why.

 

Per Wiki:

"The seeding of teams are based on the CONCACAF Club Index.[8] Each team qualifies for the CONCACAF Champions League based on criteria set by the respective associations (e.g., tournament champions, runners-up, cup champions), resulting in an assigned slot (e.g., MEX1, MEX2) for each team. The CONCACAF Club Index, instead of ranking each team, is based on the on-field performance of the teams that have occupied the respective qualifying slots in the previous five editions of the CONCACAF Champions League."

Those spots have typically been:

USA1: MLS Cup winner
USA2: Supporters Shield winner
USA3: Other conference regular season winner
USA4: US Open Cup winner

Over the last 5 years, the USA2 team has performed the worst, and their performances have taken them out of Concacaf's top 8, putting that slot into Pot B.

Qualifying for 2019 is weird because of the format change, so the slots were assigned differently than normal:

USA1: 2017 MLS Cup winner (passed down to best agg. record over 2017 and 2018) - Atlanta
USA2: 2018 MLS Cup winner
USA3: 2017 Open Cup winner - Kansas City
USA4: 2018 Open Cup winner - Houston

So, whoever qualifies as a result of these playoffs goes into USA2 and thus, Pot B. Because USA2 is a "higher" seed than USA3, a Kansas City MLS Cup win would force them into USA2 and into Pot B, while the team that would inherit their USA3 slot through the aggregate table (NYRB) would slide into Pot A.

I hope this explanation makes sense. The system itself absolutely doesn't (why judge teams based on how they qualified rather than how that actual team has played before?), but that's Concacaf for you.

 

Atlanta Atlanta United beat Chicago Fire to secure CONCACAF Champions League spot

 

So NYRB fans are cheering for a SKC or Atlanta MLS cup win right? To be honest they're probably the best team built for another CCL run, they have a pretty deep bench by MLS standards.

EDIT: Or NYRB could just win the cup but that would require Atlanta not winning it so.

 

I was going to reply "wait for it"

 

NYRB qualify if MLS Cup is won by one of those three or if Montreal pulls off a miracle. In one day, NYRB could get eliminated from the playoffs by Atlanta and qualify if SKC wins the West.

 

It certainly makes SKC my rooting interest for the Western Conference

 

So Colorado got a small inkling of self-respect and played themselves above LAFC on the 2-year table. They clinched it with one game to spare.

 

2018 CONCACAF League

FINALS
Home team first, times are ET

Thursday, October 25
Herediano (CRC) 2-0 Motagua (HON)

Thursday, November 1
Motagua (HON) v. Herediano (CRC) 10:00 pm

The winner advances to the 2019 CCL.

 

Herediano took the CONCACAF League spot.

So the only way the Red Bulls miss out on the 2019 CCL is if Portland wins MLS Cup - right?

 

Correct. If the Red Bulls or Portland win MLS Cup, either will go to Pot 2. If Atlanta or Kansas City win MLS Cup, the Red Bulls will go into Pot 1.

 

The 2019 CCL draw will be on Monday, December 3.

https://www.concacafchampionsleague...hampions-league-draw-to-take-place-december-3

This article is using USA1 through USA4 rather than the specific teams. Obviously part of that is because this is before MLS Cup so all the teams haven't been determined yet . The suspicious part of my mind keeps wondering if they won't shift teams around so that Houston winds up in Pot B.

We shall see.

 

By doing the draw before MLS Cup, the clubs in MLS Cup will know the CCL scenarios beforehand. Not that a club would lose MLS Cup on purpose to get a better CCL seeding, but CCL seeding could be a consolation prize for the loser if the loser qualifies. Atlanta and Sporting Kansas City qualified. The Red Bulls qualify if they lose to Sporting Kansas City but not if they lose to Portland, and Portland must win to qualify.