2021 SCCL Match Dates Draw: February 10 Round of 16: April 6-8 (first leg) and April 13-15 (second leg) Quarterfinals: April 27-29 (first leg) and May 4-6 (second leg) Semifinals: August 10-12 (first leg) and August 24-26 (second leg) Final: October 26-28 (single leg) https://www.columbuscrewsc.com/post...k-concacaf-champions-league-set-april-kickoff Very excited for our triumphant return to this always batshit crazy competition.
Well we now know we will have some games in the Fre also regardless of when MLS season starts and how they structure our schedule
We will be in pot 1 along with other MLS and Liga Mx teams. Our opponents will come from pot 2 which is basically teams from Honduras & Costa Rica plus 2-3 more (Haiti, etc). I think there is only 1 Mexican team (Leon) in the other pot. In theory if we take the games seriously, we should fair well in round 1.
It's a strong crop of Mexican teams this year - Cruz Azul, Monterrey, and America are all mainstays in the tournament with multiple titles each, while Leon was the best team in Liga MX over the past half season. Of the four, Cruz Azul is probably in the worst form right now. Saprissa and Olimpia are always tough outs who can more than hold their own against MLS or LMX competition. Alajuelense has pulled off some upsets too. Marathon and Real Esteli make the tournament pretty regularly, but I can't remember either of them ever doing anything noteworthy in it. The Caribbean teams shouldn't be a problem even for a shit side like Atlanta.
I thought this was more of a group play situation. When did it go knockout tournament? We could potentially be eliminated after two games. I thought we used to play 3 teams home and away?
I think with home and away legs that benefits us . We win a lot at home and on the road we often draw or lose by a goal . Obviously it’s a challenge to play early in the year at a high level but hopefully we get a easy draw to start with . really interested in squad rotation and how we go about trying to win CCL
Just recently. 2018 was the first year with the new knockout format without a group stage. They created the Concacaf League for the teams we’d typically see in the group stage to qualify. Similar to how certain UEFA teams qualify for later rounds of CL automatically. The tournament is expanding in the next couple years so we could see the group stage come back. They haven’t announced how many more teams, qualifying, format yet.
I believe Pot 1 is: 4 USA spots 3 MEX spots 1 CAN spot (not necessarily MLS) Pot 2 is: 1 MEX spot everyone else --------- In real life terms, the first 10 teams qualified directly. Though the '20 Mexican Clausura and the CFU club championships were suspended. They just took the 1st & 2nd place teams at the time of suspension (MEX) and the top ranked team after group (CFU). The last 6 qualified through CONCACAF League. Pot 1: USA 1: Columbus ('20 MLS Cup) USA2: Philly ('20 SS) USA3: Portland (MLS is Back champs) USA4: Atlanta ('19 USOC) MEX1: Monterrey ('19 Apetura) MEX2: Cruz Azul ('20 Clausura leaders) MEX3: America ('19 Apetura 2nd) CAN1: Canadian Cup (TFC/Forge FC) ----------------- Pot 2: MEX4: Leon ('20 Clausura 2nd at stop) CFU1: Atletico Pantoja (DR) (CFU Club) ------------ CR1: Saprissa (CCAF League Finalist) CR2: Alajuelense (CCAF League Finalist) HON1: Olimpia (CCAF League best SF) HAI1: Arcahaie (CCAF League worst SF) NIC1: Real Esteli (CCAF league 5th) HON2: Marathon (CCAF league 6th) We want to avoid Leon in the draw, obviously. Sparissa would be the next worst draw, IMHO. Alajuelense, Olimpia, and Marathon won't be cakewalks. Real Esteli qualify for this tourney pretty regularly and are the minnow with the sharpest teeth. I'd assume Pantoja & Arcahaie are the real minnows.
Found some old CCL videos of the Crew from back in the day. Here's Columbus vs Puerto Rico Islanders in 2009.
Thank you!!! I tried to find it and couldn't. Look at the logo in the intro, WTF! This is the CCL that I know and love.
Wednesday is coming quick and now we can actually be excited about it! Hard to speculate much prior to the draw, but looking at the the team list this - there could be some really fascinating matchups. The top games of the first round are going to be those that draw Deportivo Saprissa Club Leon CD Olimpia Cd Marathon Nothing against any other teams on the draw but these are the games that will define the rest of the competition. I'm guessing at least two of these teams are going to take out a Pot 1 team. And that will have a lasting impact on the rest of the tournament.
The draw is Wednesday at 7 pm. at the CONCACAF offices in Miami.. Fox Sports has the contract for North American English rights, TUDN the Spanish. Fox has exclusive rights to everything CONCACAF does up to and including Victor Montagliani wiping his fat ass, through 2023. Can't say if they intend to broadcast the draw or not. Their on line channel might be a good bet. I'd be shocked if they interrupted whatever crap they're showing on FS1.
Correct, 7pm - Wednesday. It'll most likely be streamed on the CONCACAF YouTube and Facebook channels. They're pretty good about keeping those accounts active and there is a lot of content on there. If you ever have a free day and need some soccer to fill it - you can fall down quite the CCL rabbit hole on their page. EDIT: Here's the info from CONCACAF press release on the draw: "The draw will be widely available for fans across the region to follow and enjoy through the Confederation’s TV partner networks, including FOX Sports (USA-English), TUDN (USA-Spanish), Fox Sports Mexico (Mexico-Spanish), ESPN (Central America-Spanish), TSN and RDS (Canada-English and French), Flow Sports (Caribbean-English) and other local partners. For other territories, the event will be available on the Official Concacaf App (Apple and Google Play stores), and Concacaf’s Facebook and YouTube pages (all subject to territory restrictions)."
I would only add - some of you will understand why - that the CONCACAF broadcast facility and offices are entirely due to Chuck Blazer, who wheedled and cajoled Sony into contributing a huge pile of money to build the studios. They're really first rate and all due to Chuck. Of course he then, per what he felt was his contractual right, took a 10% cut of the money for himself. His deal said he got 10% of any sponsorships, that was a sponsorship. Kind of. That was the conundrum of Chuck Blazer: he accomplished incredible stuff that no one would have believed possible, and then skimmed 10% off the top, making it tough to call him a hero but equally hard to paint him as a villain.
No it isn't. He spent decades as a corrupt official, siphoning millions. The only differences between him and Jack Warner types are that Blazer got caught & turned into an informant to reduce his own sentence, and he died before he could be sentenced. Among other things he agreed to plead guilty to racketeering, wire fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering. He also admitted to taking bribes on World Cup hosting in 1998 and 2010. While Blazer was not an incarnation of pure evil (no human is), I do not find it difficult to put him in the villan category.