This past Thursday the CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 concluded with a shocker result in Seattle’s CenturyLink Field. This has been an interesting first round that has shown the strengths and weaknesses of our MLS teams in international competitions, weeks prior to the start of the regular season. For the past couple of years, Liga MX teams have completely monopolized the Champions League. The last time a team that was not Mexican won the league was Deportivo Saprissa from Costa Rica back in 2005. D.C. United and Los Angeles Galaxy still remain as the only two MLS teams to have won this competition (respectively in 1998 & 2000). And ever since LA Galaxy won their title, only three MLS teams have reached the final, but have been unsuccessful in claiming the gold (Real Salt Lake in 2011, Montreal Impact in 2015 and Toronto FC in 2018). In this year’s edition of the CONCACAF Champions League, the MLS hopes its representatives can finally take the stand against the Liga MX teams and overcome the years of constant failures and disappointments. In this article, five of the eight Round of 16 matches consisting of MLS teams will be reviewed, and predictions will also be given to their future performance in Quarterfinals.
New York City Football Club (USA) vs. A.D. San Carlos (CRC)
LEG 1: SCA 3-5 NYC
LEG 2: NYC 1-0 SCA
Aggregate Score: 6-3 New York City FC
New York City Football Club has been on the rise these past couple of years, even after the departure of big names such as Andrea Pirlo, Frank Lampard and David Villa. Certainly, this new generation of players have shown themselves capable to provide good performances with quality offensive and defensive tactics. City was capable of dominating a debuting AD San Carlos in Costa Rica with a wonderful performance from their star striker Heber, netting in three goals in their win away-from-home. The Boys in Blue returned home with a comfortable lead, having scored five away goals that decimated AD San Carlos’ chances of reverting the series. To the dismay of City fans, the home match was played at Red Bulla Arena, stadium belonging to their biggest rivals: the New York Red Bulls. The players were received in almost an empty stadium with very low attendance as not many fans wanted to travel all the way to New Jersey to watch this match, it’s a shame that the CONCACAF restricts City from playing in Yankee Stadium or Mets field due to field dimension standards, yet it’s a much bigger shame that for the past seven years New York City has not capitalized on the construction of a soccer-specific stadium somewhere in the Big Apple. As of now it just feels like New York City is a nomad team. Regardless of their stadium issues, NYCFC ended up wining their match in New Jersey with a header from Alex Callens, sealing the aggregate score at 6-3 for the New Yorkers. Fans will be even more disappointed to learn that they will play their home quarterfinal match AGAIN in Red Bull Arena; their opponent: Tigres UANL from Mexico, whom dramatically qualified to the next round after their goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman scored a last-minute header against Salvadorian side Alianza to not only win the match, but also win the series 5-4. As a New York City fan, myself with the highest of hopes that this team could at some point be successful, and even with the group of players we have that can take on any challenge, my gut still believes that we will struggle against Tigres. I’ll still believe in the idea that this game will head into penalty shootout, and that NYCFC will surprisingly boost themselves into semifinals with an outstanding performance by Sean Johnson.
Prediction: NYCFC to advance to semifinals 3-3 on agg. (3-4 on pens.) against Tigres UANL.
Atlanta United (USA) vs Motagua (HON)
LEG 1: MOT 1-1 ATL
LEG 2: ATL 3-0 MOT
Aggregate Score: 4-1 Atlanta United
When Atlanta United won the MLS title back in 2018, we were assured that this team will be that team that could break the streak of MLS teams not having won any international competitions. Successfully, Atlanta United managed to gain their first international title by defeating Club America 3-2 for the Campeones Cup in 2019. Seems to me that Atlanta are on the route to become greater than ever before, having already proven themselves against Liga MX teams. For this round, they faced a humble Motagua from Honduras who applied loads of pressure on them in San Pedro Sula. A brace from the Atlanta hero Josef Martinez helped United return to the states with a 1-1 tie. Atlanta United played their home game in the Fifth Third Bank Stadium, since the Mercedes-Benz Stadium was in use for a Monster Truck Show (Priorities… am I right?). A beautiful performance by their goal scorer Josef Martinez and the former River Plate man Gonzalo “El Pity” Martinez, Atlanta notched their ticket to the next round with a 3-0 win over Motagua. They will now face Club America once again, just months after their last match for the Campeones Cup. Personally, I believe that Atlanta has got what it takes to overcome this Club America that has gone silent and slightly unproductive for the past two years.
Prediction: Atlanta to advance to semifinals 4-2 on agg. against Club America.
LAFC vs Club Leon
LEG1: LEO 2-0 LAF
LEG2: LAF 3-0 LEO
Aggregate Score: 3-2 LAFC
The past season had revealed an inspired LAFC with a menacing front attack led by Carlos Vela, the winner of last season’s golden boot, and a decent (but not so perfect) defense. 2019 saw this team win the Supporters Shield for having earned the most amount of points during regular season, and even as huge of a hype this team got to possibly each an MLS final that year, they got shut down by the Seattle Sounders at home. Anyways, new season, new start for L.A., and what better way to start your season than a disappointing 2-0 loss in Mexico… right? LAFC was heavily criticized for their lack of gameplay against Club Leon who clearly dominated the black and gold team throughout the 90 minutes. It almost seemed as if LAFC had set themselves up for failure in their first appearance in an international competition, but destiny had something installed for them at the Banc of California Stadium. In a city that still mourned the loss of Kobe & Gigi Bryant, the fans before the match held a tifo up by the stands in memory of the basketball legend and his daughter whom had unfortunately died in a helicopter crash along with 6 other people (R.I.P. Mamba). Los Angeles F.C. obtained their first win in the CONCACAF Champions League in style: a double from Carlos Vela led the game to an aggregate tie around the 75th minute. Just as fans thought the match would head to penalties, Diego Rossi stuns the crowd with an incredible chip over the goalkeeper to bounce off of the top woodwork and into the net. The comeback was completed at home and LAFC are still alive in this competition. They will face the cementeros of Cruz Azul in the Quarterfinals. I predict that this match will be a very competitive one, and will probably be defined via the 12-foot shooting point where LAFC will come out victorious. If they managed to beat a Mexican team once, they can do it again.
Prediction: LAFC to advance to semifinals 2-2 on agg. (4-5 on pens.) against Cruz Azul.
Montreal Impact (CAN) vs Deportivo Saprissa (CRC)
LEG 1: SAP 2-2 MON
LEG2: MON 0-0 SAP
Aggregate Score: 2-2* Montreal Impact (*Wins on away goals)
Our neighboring Canadian side pulled off a slightly mediocre performance against Deportivo Saprissa, which was about enough for them to advance into the next round. The Canadian Cup Champions Montreal Impact start their season with the hopes of chasing at last some silverware. The 2015 finalists have had a couple of irregular seasons since then, having finished ninth last season, failing to qualify to the MLS Playoffs, while their rivals Toronto FC made it to their second MLS final in history. One thing they can surely brag about is getting to play the Champions League once again after having defeated Toronto for the Canadian Cup. In Costa Rica, Montreal started the game with two goals from Okwonkwo and Quioto to lead in the first half by 2-0. That lead wouldn’t last the entire match, as the last ten minutes saw Montreal’s defense deteriorate, and allowing two goals in by Saprissa to end the game tied at 2-2. The home match at Montreal’s Olympic stadium was pretty stale at most, many chances were created by both sides, none were capitalized. The game ended 0-0 in favor of the Quebecois. Montreal will face Olimpia from Honduras, a team that surprisingly took out the MLS champions Seattle Sounders (we’ll get to that in a minute). I predict that Montreal will cruise easily over Olimpia, not much really to say from both teams.
Prediction: Montreal advances to semifinals 5-1 on agg. against Olimpia
Seattle Sounders (USA) vs Olimpia (HON)
LEG 1: OLP 2-2 SEA
LEG 2: SEA 2-2 OLP
Aggregate Score: 4-4 TiedPenalty shootout: 2-4 Olimpia
Oh my god! Who would’ve ever thought the biggest disappointment of this round would be none other than the current MLS champions Seattle Sounders? Let’s be honest, this team last season was not under the same spectrum of the best teams of the league at that moment like Atlanta United, LAFC and NYCFC were. Seattle Sounders were fortunate enough to play some good games in the MLS Playoffs to end up crowning themselves champions this past November. You would’ve expected that a team with important players like Raul Ruidiaz, Nicolas Lodeiro, Jordan Morris and Stefan Frei, would pull off an easy win against Honduran side Olimpia; yet they underestimated this team a bit too much on both legs. First leg ended on a 2-2 tie after the Sounders took a two-goal lead by the 55th minute; then Olimpia came back from below with two goals by their striker Justin Arboleda. The home match at CenturyLink Field would be one to remember… for the Hondurans of course, because as much as Seattle pushed to win advantage in this match, Olimpia placed in lots of effort into wining this game, and they were awarded a glorious last minute goal from their player Carlos Pineda to send the game to penalty shootout. Olimpia would overcome the reigning MLS Champions Seattle Sounders after Cristian Roldan and Kelvin Leerdam missed their shots. Seattle will begin their MLS season without having to worry about international competitions for a long while.
Other Important Scores from the Round of 16:
Club America (MEX) v. Comunicaciones (GUA):
Club America wins via penalty-shootout (2-2 on agg., 5-3 on pens.)
Tigres UANL (MEX) vs Alianza (SLV)
Tigres UANL wins (5-4 on agg.)
Cruz Azul (MEX) vs Portmore United F.C. (JAM)
Cruz Azul wins (6-1 on agg.)
Author: I’m Juan Jaramillo, I currently live in New York City, NY, I’m a die-hard Manchester United fan, Colombian at heart and interested in pursuing a career in sports journalism somewhere in the far future. I enjoy writing articles about sport events or sport histories as a hobby. Follow me on Instagram: @juan_jaramillo1995