2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League

2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League
Tournament details
Dates August 6, 2013 – April 23, 2014
Teams 24 (from 11 associations)
Final positions
Champions Mexico Cruz Azul (6th title)
Runners-up Mexico Toluca
Tournament statistics
Matches played 62
Goals scored 151 (2.44 per match)
Top scorer(s) Mexico Raúl Nava
(7 goals)
Best player Argentina Mariano Pavone
Best goalkeeper Mexico Alfredo Talavera

The 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League was the 6th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 49th edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Monterrey were the three-time defending champions, but were unable to defend their title as they failed to qualify for the tournament.

Cruz Azul won a record-setting sixth CONCACAF club title (and their first during the Champions League era), after winning an all-Mexican final over Toluca on away goals.[1] As a result, they qualified as the CONCACAF representative at the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup.[2]

Qualification

Location of teams of the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League from the North American Zone
Location of teams of the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League from the Central American Zone
Location of teams of the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League from the Caribbean Zone

Twenty-four teams participate in the CONCACAF Champions League: nine from the North American Zone, twelve from the Central American Zone, and three from the Caribbean Zone.

Clubs may be disqualified and replaced by a club from another association if the club does not have an available stadium that meets CONCACAF regulations for safety. If a club's own stadium fails to meet the set standards then it may find a suitable replacement stadium within its own country. However, if it is still determined that the club cannot provide the adequate facilities then it runs the risk of being replaced.

North America

Nine teams from the North American Football Union qualify to the Champions League. Mexico and the United States are each allocated four spots, the most of any of the CONCACAF's member associations, while Canada is granted one spot in the tournament.

For Mexico, the winners of the Liga MX Apertura and Clausura tournaments earn berths in Pot A of the tournament's group stage, while the Apertura and Clausura runners-up earn berths in Pot B.

For the United States, three spots are allocated through the Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season and playoffs; the fourth spot is allocated to the winner of its domestic cup competition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The MLS Cup winner and the Supporters' Shield winner (if U.S.-based) are placed in Pot A; the MLS Cup runner-up (if U.S.-based) and the U.S. Open Cup winner are placed in Pot B. If any of the above spots are taken by a Canada-based MLS team, the Champions League place is allocated to the U.S.-based team with the best MLS regular season record who has failed to otherwise qualify.

For Canada, the winner of the domestic cup competition, the Voyageurs Cup competed for in the Canadian Championship, earns the lone Canadian berth into the tournament, in Pot B.

Central America

Twelve teams from the Central American Football Union qualify to the Champions League. The allocation is as follows: two teams from each of Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and El Salvador, and one team from each of Nicaragua and Belize.

For the Central American teams that qualify via split seasons, the aggregate record of the two tournaments within the season is used to determine which team gains the association's top spot. The pots of the teams are as follows:

If one or more clubs is precluded, it is supplanted by a club from another Central American association. The reallocation is based on results from previous Champions League tournaments.

Caribbean

Three teams from the Caribbean Football Union qualify to the Champions League. The three berths, in Pot C, are allocated to the top three finishers of the CFU Club Championship, a subcontinental tournament for clubs from associations of the Caribbean Football Union. In order for a team to qualify for the CFU Club Championship, they usually need to finish as the champion or runner-up of their respective association's league in the previous season, but professional teams may also be selected by their associations if they play in the league of another country.

If any Caribbean club is precluded, it is supplanted by the fourth place finisher from the CFU Club Championship.

Teams

The following teams qualified for the tournament.

In the following table, the number of appearances, last appearance, and previous best result count only those in the CONCACAF Champions League era starting from 2008–09 (not counting those in the era of the Champions' Cup from 1962 to 2008).

Association Team Pot Qualifying method App Last App Previous Best
North America (9 teams)
Mexico Mexico
4 berths		 Tijuana A 2012 Apertura champions 1st N/A N/A
Toluca B 2012 Apertura runners-up 3rd 2010–11 Semifinals
América A 2013 Clausura champions 1st N/A N/A
Cruz Azul B 2013 Clausura runners-up 4th 2010–11 Runner-up
United States United States
4 berths		 LA Galaxy A 2012 MLS Cup champions 4th 2012–13 Semifinals
San Jose Earthquakes A 2012 MLS Supporters' Shield champions 1st N/A N/A
Houston Dynamo B 2012 MLS Cup runners-up 4th 2012–13 Quarterfinals
Sporting Kansas City B 2012 U.S. Open Cup champions 1st N/A N/A
Canada Canada
1 berth		 Montreal Impact B 2013 Canadian Championship champions 2nd[A] 2008–09 Quarterfinals
Central America (12 teams)
Costa Rica Costa Rica
2 (+1) berths[B]		 Alajuelense B 2012 Invierno champions 4th 2012–13 Group stage
Herediano A 2013 Verano champions 4th 2012–13 Quarterfinals
Cartaginés C 2013 Verano runners-up 1st N/A N/A
Honduras Honduras
2 berths		 Olimpia A 2012 Apertura champions
2013 Clausura champions		 6th 2012–13 Quarterfinals
Victoria B Runners-up with better aggregate record in 2012–13 season 1st N/A N/A
Guatemala Guatemala
2 berths		 Comunicaciones A 2012 Apertura champions
2013 Clausura champions		 3rd 2011–12 Quarterfinals
Heredia C Runners-up with better aggregate record in 2012–13 season 1st N/A N/A
Panama Panama
2 berths		 Árabe Unido A 2012 Apertura champions 3rd 2010–11 Quarterfinals
Sporting San Miguelito C 2013 Clausura champions 1st N/A N/A
El Salvador El Salvador
2 berths		 Isidro Metapán B 2012 Apertura champions 6th 2012–13 Quarterfinals
Luis Ángel Firpo C 2013 Clausura champions 3rd 2009–10 Group stage
Nicaragua Nicaragua
1 berth		 Real Estelí C 2012 Apertura champions
2013 Clausura champions		 4th 2012–13 Group stage
Caribbean (3 teams)
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago W Connection C 2013 CFU Club Championship Group 1 winners[C] 3rd 2012–13 Group stage
Caledonia AIA C 2013 CFU Club Championship Playoff round winners[C] 2nd 2012–13 Group stage
Haiti Haiti Valencia C 2013 CFU Club Championship Group 2 winners[C] 1st N/A N/A
Notes
  1. ^ Montreal Impact's previous appearance in 2008–09 was made by an earlier incarnation of the franchise with the same name, which played in the USL First Division. The current MLS club began play in 2012.
  2. ^ Because Belize could not provide a stadium which met CONCACAF'S minimum standards for the Champions League, the berth normally reserved for Belize was reallocated to Costa Rica, based on the results of the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League.[3]
  3. ^ a b c No final round was played in the 2013 CFU Club Championship. W Connection and Valencia, the two first round group winners, and Caledonia AIA, the playoff round winner between the two first round group runners-up, qualified for the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League.

Draw

The draw for the group stage was held on June 3, 2013 at Doral, Florida, United States.[4][5]

The 24 teams were drawn into eight groups of three, with each group containing one team from each of the three pots. The allocation of teams into pots was based on their national association and qualifying berth. Teams from the same association (excluding "wildcard" teams which replace a team from another association) could not be drawn with each other in the group stage, and each group was guaranteed to contain a team from either the United States or Mexico, meaning U.S. and Mexican teams could not play each other in the group stage.[6]

Pot A
Mexico Tijuana Mexico América United States LA Galaxy United States San Jose Earthquakes
Costa Rica Herediano Honduras Olimpia Guatemala Comunicaciones Panama Árabe Unido
Pot B
Mexico Toluca Mexico Cruz Azul United States Houston Dynamo United States Sporting Kansas City
Costa Rica Alajuelense Honduras Victoria El Salvador Isidro Metapán Canada Montreal Impact
Pot C
Guatemala Heredia El Salvador Luis Ángel Firpo Panama Sporting San Miguelito Nicaragua Real Estelí
Costa Rica Cartaginés Trinidad and Tobago W Connection Haiti Valencia Trinidad and Tobago Caledonia AIA

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows.[7][8]

Round First leg Second leg
Group stage Matchday 1 August 6–8, 2013
Matchday 2 August 20–22, 2013
Matchday 3 August 27–29, 2013
Matchday 4 September 17–19, 2013
Matchday 5 September 24–26, 2013
Matchday 6 October 22–24, 2013
Championship stage Quarterfinals March 10–12, 2014 March 18–20, 2014
Semifinals April 1–3, 2014 April 8–10, 2014
Finals April 15–17, 2014 April 22–24, 2014

Group stage

In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners of each group advanced to the championship stage.

Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[2]

  1. Greater number of points earned in matches between the teams concerned
  2. Greater goal difference in matches between the teams concerned
  3. Greater number of goals scored away from home in matches between the teams concerned
  4. Reapply first three criteria if two or more teams are still tied
  5. Greater goal difference in all group matches
  6. Greater number of goals scored in group matches
  7. Greater number of goals scored away in all group matches
  8. Drawing of lots

Group 1

Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Panama Árabe Unido 4 3 0 1 7 3 +4 9
United States Houston Dynamo 4 2 1 1 4 2 +2 7
Trinidad and Tobago W Connection 4 0 1 3 1 7 −6 1
  ARA HOU CON
Árabe Unido — 1–0 3–1
Houston Dynamo 2–1 — 2–0
W Connection 0–2 0–0 —

Group 2

Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
United States Sporting Kansas City 4 2 2 0 5 1 +4 8
Honduras Olimpia 4 2 1 1 2 2 0 7
Nicaragua Real Estelí 4 0 1 3 1 5 −4 1
  OLI EST KC
Olimpia — 1–0 0–2
Real Estelí 0–1 — 0–2
Sporting Kansas City 0–0 1–1 —

Group 3

Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Mexico Cruz Azul 4 4 0 0 10 2 +8 12
Costa Rica Herediano 4 2 0 2 11 8 +3 6
Haiti Valencia 4 0 0 4 4 15 −11 0
  CA HER VAL
Cruz Azul — 3–0 3–0
Herediano 1–2 — 4–2
Valencia 1–2 1–6 —

Group 4

Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Costa Rica Alajuelense 4 3 0 1 4 1 +3 9
Mexico América 4 2 0 2 4 2 +2 6
Panama Sporting San Miguelito 4 1 0 3 1 6 −5 3
  ALA AME SM
Alajuelense — 1–0 2–0
América 0–1 — 3–0
Sporting San Miguelito 1–0 0–1 —

Group 5

Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
United States San Jose Earthquakes 4 2 0 2 4 2 +2 6
Canada Montreal Impact 4 2 0 2 3 4 −1 6
Guatemala Heredia 4 2 0 2 2 3 −1 6
  HER MTL SJ
Heredia — 1–0 1–0
Montreal Impact 2–0 — 1–0
San Jose Earthquakes 1–0 3–0 —
Tiebreakers

Group 6

Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Mexico Toluca 4 4 0 0 15 4 +11 12
Guatemala Comunicaciones 4 2 0 2 7 7 0 6
Trinidad and Tobago Caledonia AIA 4 0 0 4 2 13 −11 0
  CAL COM TOL
Caledonia AIA — 0–3 1–5
Comunicaciones 2–0 — 1–2
Toluca 3–1 5–1 —

Group 7

Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Mexico Tijuana 4 3 1 0 10 2 +8 10
El Salvador Luis Ángel Firpo 4 2 1 1 6 3 +3 7
Honduras Victoria 4 0 0 4 4 15 −11 0
  FIR TIJ VIC
Luis Ángel Firpo — 0–0 2–1
Tijuana 1–0 — 6–0
Victoria 1–4 2–3 —

Group 8

Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
United States LA Galaxy 4 3 0 1 6 4 +2 9
Costa Rica Cartaginés 4 1 1 2 4 7 −3 4
El Salvador Isidro Metapán 4 1 1 2 6 5 +1 4
  CAR MET LA
Cartaginés — 0–0 0–3
Isidro Metapán 2–4 — 4–0
LA Galaxy 2–0 1–0 —
Tiebreakers

Championship stage

In the championship stage, the eight teams played a single-elimination tournament. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule was used if the aggregate score was level after normal time of the second leg, but not after extra time, and so a tie was decided by penalty shoot-out if the aggregate score was level after extra time of the second leg.[2]

Seeding

The qualified teams were seeded 1–8 in the championship stage according to their results in the group stage.

Seed
 Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
1 Mexico Toluca 4 4 0 0 15 4 +11 12
2 Mexico Cruz Azul 4 4 0 0 10 2 +8 12
3 Mexico Tijuana 4 3 1 0 10 2 +8 10
4 Panama Árabe Unido 4 3 0 1 7 3 +4 9
5 Costa Rica Alajuelense 4 3 0 1 4 1 +3 9
6 United States LA Galaxy 4 3 0 1 6 4 +2 9
7 United States Sporting Kansas City 4 2 2 0 5 1 +4 8
8 United States San Jose Earthquakes 4 2 0 2 4 2 +2 6

Ranking rules: 1. Points; 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Away goals scored; 5. Wins; 6. Away wins; 7. Drawing of lots.[2]

Bracket

The bracket of the championship stage was determined by the seeding as follows:[2]

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                                         
6  United States LA Galaxy 1 2 3  
3  Mexico Tijuana 0 4 4  
  3  Mexico Tijuana 1 0 1  
  2  Mexico Cruz Azul 0 2 2  
7  United States Sporting Kansas City 1 1 2
2  Mexico Cruz Azul 0 5 5  
  2  Mexico Cruz Azul (a) 0 1 1
  1  Mexico Toluca 0 1 1
5  Costa Rica Alajuelense 0 2 2  
4  Panama Árabe Unido 0 0 0  
  5  Costa Rica Alajuelense 0 0 0
  1  Mexico Toluca 1 2 3  
8  United States San Jose Earthquakes 1 1 2 (4)
1  Mexico Toluca (p) 1 1 2 (5)  

Quarterfinals

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
San Jose Earthquakes United States 2–2 (4–5 p) Mexico Toluca 1–1 1–1 (a.e.t.)
Sporting Kansas City United States 2–5 Mexico Cruz Azul 1–0 1–5
LA Galaxy United States 3–4 Mexico Tijuana 1–0 2–4
Alajuelense Costa Rica 2–0 Panama Árabe Unido 0–0 2–0

Semifinals

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Alajuelense Costa Rica 0–3 Mexico Toluca 0–1 0–2
Tijuana Mexico 1–2 Mexico Cruz Azul 1–0 0–2

Finals

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Cruz Azul Mexico 1–1 (a) Mexico Toluca 0–0 1–1

Awards

Award Player Team
Golden Ball[9] Argentina Mariano Pavone Mexico Cruz Azul
Golden Boot[10] Mexico Raúl Nava Mexico Toluca
Golden Glove[11] Mexico Alfredo Talavera Mexico Toluca
Fair Play Award[12] — United States LA Galaxy

Top goalscorers

Rank Player Team Goals
1 Mexico Raúl Nava Mexico Toluca 7
2 Panama Nicolás Muñoz El Salvador Isidro Metapán 5
Argentina Mariano Pavone Mexico Cruz Azul 5
4 Paraguay Édgar Benítez Mexico Toluca 4
Cameroon Achille Emaná Mexico Cruz Azul 4
Republic of Ireland Robbie Keane United States Los Angeles Galaxy 4
7 United States Herculez Gomez Mexico Tijuana 3
Costa Rica Pablo Herrera Costa Rica Cartaginés 3
Honduras Jerry Palacios Costa Rica Alajuelense 3
Costa Rica Anllel Porras Costa Rica Herediano 3
Uruguay Paolo Suárez Guatemala Comunicaciones 3

Source:[13]

See also

References

External links

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