Photo by Jake Roth/USA Today Sports
By MICHAEL PENG
Since the inception of the CONCACAF Champions League’s current name and format in 2008, no MLS side has been able to claim the title of the best club in North America, but the five clubs representing the league this season will get another crack at it starting on Tuesday night.
D.C. United, Seattle Sounders, Vancouver Whitecaps, Real Salt Lake and LA Galaxy each hope become the club that would make the MLS proud this Champions League season and break the stranglehold that Mexican clubs have had in this competition over the last seven years.
Last year saw the Montreal Impact come close to achieving that goal with a pleasantly surprising run into the final, but a dominating second half in the second leg match by Club America gave the Liga MX side its record-tying sixth title in this competition, dating back to the Champions Cup era.
Six clubs will start kick season off on Tuesday night, while five more matches will take place in the following two days.
Here is a look at the early actions of the group stage:
TUESDAY, AUG. 4
QUERETARO VS. SAN FRANCISCO, ESTADIO CORREGIDORA, 8 P.M.
After a turnaround season that saw Queretaro finish as the runner-up in the Clausura playoffs last year, the Liga MX side will make its CCL debut when it hosts Panama’s San Francisco at home.
For the visitors, it will be their fifth appearance in this competition, this time qualifying via capturing the 2014 Panamanian Apertura. San Francisco, however, is 1-0-4 in its last five CCL competitions and has been shut out in six of its seven total road games in the CCL.
SANTOS LAGUNA VS. W CONNECTION FC, ESTADIO CORONA, 8 P.M.
After defeating Queretaro to capture the 2015 Liga MX Clausura last year, Santos Laguna looks capture the elusive CCL title in its fifth appearance after finishing as runner-ups twice before. The club is tied for second in most wins in this competition with 25, has played the second-most games with 44 and scored the most goals with 104.
Mexican international Javier Orozco, who helped El Tri win the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup last month, is the CCL’s all-time leading scorer with 24 goals — all while he was a member of Cruz Azul during 2008-11 — will look carry that momentum into Tuesday night’s competition against the Caribbean side WConnection FC, who is making its fourth CCL appearance.
MUNICIPAL VS. REAL SALT LAKE, ESTADIO MATEO FLORES, 10 P.M.
Making its return to the tournament for the first time since 2012-13, Real Salt Lake will have its work cut out for it when the club travels to take on Guatemala power Municipal.
RSL has struggled away from Rio Tinto Stadium as of late, losing its last six games on the road, with the latest coming in wild 6-4 loss to D.C. United.
As for Municipal, leading its way will be former MLS veteran and 2002 MVP Carlos Ruiz. The 35-year-old Ruiz returned to Municipal in February of last year and has scored 33 goals in the 57 matches since.
WESNESDAY, AUG. 5
ARABE UNIDO VS. MONTEGO BAY, ESTADIO MARACANA, 8 P.M.
Three months after capturing the Liga Panamena de Futbol’s Clausura, Arabe Unido returns to the CCL looking to carry that momentum and build off the success it had in the 2013-14 CCL campaign that saw the club reach the quarterfinals.
The visiting Montego Bay qualified for its first-ever berth in the CCL with a third-place finish in the Caribbean Football Union Club Championship. The club features 22-year-old Allan Ottey, who was on Jamaica’s national team roster during its recent run into the Gold Cup final.
CLUB AMERICA VS. MOTAGUA, ESTADIO AZTECA, 10 P.M.
Club America has not gotten off to an ideal start in its domestic league so far, but the the defending champions have a chance to kick off this year’s CCL off on a better note.
The Mexican side dropped its first two games in Liga MX but a roster that features Rubens Sambueza, Carlos Quintero, Oribe Peralta and U.S. Men’s National Team’s Ventura Alvarado — despite his early struggles — should be able to right the ship in no time.
The visiting Motagua, however, is no walkover. The Honduran club is coming off a splendid season in which it captured the league Apertura and finished as a runner-up in the Clausura.
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS VS. SEATTLE SOUNDERS, BC PLACE, 10 P.M.
Just days after picking up a 3-0 league win against the Sounders in Seattle, the Whitecaps will play hosts Wednesday night at BC Place.
The Cascadia rivals are involved in the only group that features multiple MLS clubs in this year’s competition so a win in a head-to-head match would prove vital in either side’s hopes of advancing.
Vancouver dropped a 2-0 decision at home to Seattle back on May 16, but that has not stopped the top Canadian club in the MLS from last season from enjoying a successful campaign this year. The Whitecaps currently sit atop the Western Conference with 39 points, while the Sounders are in sixth place, trailing by seven points.
THURSDAY, AUG. 6
HEREDIANO VS. ISIDRO METAPAN, ESTADIO ELADIO ROSABAL CORDERO, 10 P.M.
Herediano looked poised to advanced to the CCL final last season but a 6-0 loss at the hands of Club America in the second leg of the semifinals erased all the work the Costa Rican side did in a 3-0 first leg-win.
After capturing the Campeonato de Verano title in May, Herediano hopes to take things one step farther this time around in the CCL, beginning with Thursday’s night clash against “perennial” CCL participant Isidro Metapan.
The Salvadoran club has qualified for the CCL every year since it’s current format that began in 2008. Isidro Metapan was grouped with Herediano in last year’s competition as well, but failed to pick up a single win in four group stage matches.
LA GALAXY VS. CENTRAL FC, STUBHUB CENTER, 10 P.M.
The reigning MLS Cup champions are back in the CCL after a year away from and have brought some new toys to play with this time around in hopes of translating that into success in both domestic and continental competitions.
The additions of Steven Gerrard and Giovani Dos Santos are sure to ease the sting of losing Landon Donovan a bit, but for the Galaxy to have a successful CCL campaign, they have to navigate around a couple of fellow champions as well in Trinidad and Tobago’s Central FC and Guatemala’s Comunicaciones.
Central FC was just established in 2012, but has since grown at a rapid pace. The club is coming off a season in which it captured the TT Pro League title as well as the CFU Club Championship.