I have not been able to cover the Champions League as much as I did last year because of other demands on my time, and my own desires to have a life. But fortunately CONCACAF has been able to fill the gap with a very good Champions League website. Today was the draw for the knockout stage (the Championship Round, as CONCACAF calls it) of the Champions League. Here it is:
QF1: Comunicaciones vs. Pachuca
QF2: Columbus Crew vs. Toluca
QF3: Marathón vs. UNAM
QF4: Árabe Unido vs. Cruz Azul
Semifinals
SF1: QF2 vs. QF1
SF2: QF3 vs. QF4
Finals
SF1 vs. SF2
As always, the home team for the first leg is listed first.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist like me to figure out that the road to the Champions League trophy runs through Mexico. Actually it will backtrack through Mexico a number of times. I think the Crew and Árabe are the strongest of the non-Mexican sides, but they have the misfortune of playing the two Mexican representatives that have the best form in Cruz Azul and Toluca. Columbus may have even less of a chance if Guillermo Barros Schelotto refuses to take a 50%(!) pay cut and leaves. Perhaps Marathón can beat UNAM, but I'm not sold on Marathón's quality. They aren't same kind of team they were last year (who might have knocked off a Mexican side had Puerto Rico not taken care of them first). Pachuca have had an indifferent first half of the season, but they have more than enough to get past Comunicaciones.
So will it be an all-Mexican final four this season? I think the odds are heavily in favor of that outcome.
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