>Colorado vs Toronto I seriously hope the clubs do some more smack talk along these lines now that the pairing is real. X-D
What a joke. US teams except Canada still not meeting Mexican teams from the get go... Hard to take this tournament seriously
Not everyone agrees with the format which is far from perfect. It's just rather strange that things ends up being almost exactly like previews tournaments in the knockout stage. Costa Rica clubs are at a clear disadvantage but it doesn't matter in the end, Liga MX will still win the cup this year
A clear disadvantage they earned, unless you're suggesting that CONCACAF cooked the books. The results of the past 5 competitions determined the seeded teams. And having seeded teams is hardly "a joke".
1st of all: it's CONCACAF 2nd, former formats and draws were already manipulated. It was designed that US and Mexicans clubs never met in group stage. (Since 2012 IIRC) So yeah, Costa Rica and Canadian clubs were at a disadvantage until they changed the format again Do the math and you'll see that using past results based on the old manipulated format gives you roughly the same thing which doesn't necessarily reflects reality. Saprissa and Herediano are better clubs than most MLS clubs Would US MLS clubs ranked this high in the club index if they had to face Liga MX clubs at groups stage? I seriously doubt it.
The USA and Mexico separation started in 2012 when there changed from being 4 groups to 8 groups. Obviously when there were 4 groups USA and Mexican clubs had to face each other just like some World Cup groups have 2 UEFA teams. It's possible that US MLS clubs would have ranked worse if they had to face Liga MX clubs in the Group Stage, but it's impossible to make rankings based on how clubs would have done against opponents they didn't play. It's kind of like thinking about whether an Eastern Conference club or a Western Conference club that had near the same amount of points would have done if MLS had a balanced schedule.
Actually the Canadian entry could not face a Mexican team in the first round. Toronto was in Pot 1 along with all 4 Mexico teams and 3 of the USA teams. Colorado was in Pot 2 and could have been drawn against a Mexican team in the Round of 16.
Building off that comment, this format actually favors the likelihood of having a USA-MEX matchup in the first round, i.e. a greater than 50% chance. If we work under the assumption that, for the forseeable future, all four MEX teams will be in Pot 1, then you're guaranteed to have at least one MLS team in Pot 2, and for argument's sake let's also assume it won't be the CAN team either. That means you have one or more USA teams in Pot 2, each with a 50% chance of seeing a MEX team in the first round. As such, you're more likely than not to have at least one USA-MEX matchup right off the bat. The luck just fell the other way this time.
It is funny how the old concacrap lady luck sent Colorado to Toronto (assures no MLS-MEX meeting in the first round) and how it managed to make 4 LMX-MLS matchups in quarters. No MEX-MEX or MLS-MLS before semis.
I think they want MLS to finally lift that trophy. It's in CONCACAF's interest to show that this region isn't a one country story. Seeing who's president right now, I'm sure he wouldn't mind TFC winning
Doing a quick scan of the tournaments, it appears that it has only happened one time, in 1985. They actually faced each other as well. America advanced 4-2 on aggregate.
Ugh! giving the chicas every possible advantage. Its sickening to be honest. @LGRod must be having a laugh....smh
1985 was the last time they faced each other in the CCL, huh. Well then... And it would be more ammo to dis the Northern teams, who are overrated. The Kings of Mexico are Pachuca, gotta win that CCL to knock em off the perch. No excuses.
If they wanted MLS to lift the trophy they wouldn't have made its strongest team ever in the tournament have to go through Tigres and Ameríca just to get to the finals.