User:Bmf 051/sandbox/2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The CONCACAF Champions League was an annual continental club

CFU Club Championship). Also, many associations do not have stadiums that meet FIFA and CONCACAF
requirements for hosting matches in a tournament such as this. But this is just an idea.

The tournament would have consisted of a qualification round and a play-off round, with 16 surviving teams entering the group stage, joining 16 teams that qualify automatically. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four teams and played each other in a double round-robin system. The eight group winners and eight runners-up proceeded to the knockout phase that culminated with the two-legged final. Cruz Azul were the title holders.

Herediano won the tournament, defeating Cruz Azul 4–3 on aggregate in the final
.

Format

Qualification

The CONCACAF Champions League would commence with a double round-robin group stage of 32 teams, which is preceded by two qualification 'streams' for teams that do not receive direct entry to the tournament proper. The two streams are divided between teams qualified by virtue of being league champions, and those qualified by virtue of finishing 2nd–5th in their national championship.

The number of teams that each association enters into the CONCACAF Champions League is based upon their CONCACAF country coefficient. These coefficients are generated by the results of clubs representing each association during the previous five Champions League seasons. The higher an association's coefficient, the more teams represent the association in the Champions League, and the fewer qualification rounds the association's teams must compete in. However, associations are limited to 1 entrant for every 3 teams at the highest level of that association's league system.

Sixteen teams qualify directly to the group stage of the tournament from associations ranked 1 through 11. Eight of the remaining sixteen qualifying places are granted to the winners of a two round qualifying tournament between the remaining 28 national champions, within which those champions from associations with higher coefficients receive byes to the second qualifying round (the "play-off round"). The other eight are granted to the winners of a one round play-off round between the 16 clubs from the associations ranked 1 through 10 (except Canada), which have qualified based upon finishing second, third, fourth, or fifth in their respective national league (or that have qualified by winning a domestic tournament, such as the

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
).

Tournament

The tournament proper begins with a group stage of 32 teams, divided into eight groups. Seeding is used whilst making the draw for this stage, whilst teams from the same country may not be drawn into groups together. Each team meets the others in its group home and away in a round-robin format. The winning team and the runners-up from each group then progress to the next round.

For this stage, the winning team from one group plays against the runners-up from another group, and teams from the same association may not be drawn against each other. From the quarter-finals onwards, the draw is entirely random, without association protection. The tournament uses the

penalty kicks. This is a variation of the method used in the UEFA Champions League
and other tournaments, the difference being that the away goals rule is not applied after extra time.

Distribution (2014–15)

Teams entering in this round Teams advancing from previous round
Qualifying round
(24 teams)
  • 24 champions from associations 16–39
Play-off round Champions
(16 teams)
  • 4 champions from associations 12-15
  • 12 winners from the qualifying round
Non-champions
(16 teams)
  • 6 runners-up from associations 5-10
  • 5 third-placed teams from associations 1 and 4-7[Note CAN][Note MEX]
  • 3 fourth-placed teams from associations 2 and 4-5[Note CAN][Note MEX]
  • 2 fifth-placed teams from associations 1 and 2
Group stage
(32 teams)
  • 11 champions from associations 1–11
  • 3 runners-up from associations 1–2 and 4[Note CAN]
  • 1 third-placed team from association 2[Note MEX]
  • 1 fourth-placed team from association 1[Note MEX]
  • 8 winners from the play-off round for champions
  • 8 winners from the play-off round for non-champions
Knockout phase
(16 teams)
  • 8 group winners from the group stage
  • 8 group runners-up from the group stage

Notes:

  1. ^
    Canada (CAN): As the third-ranked association, Canada would normally be entitled to 4 bids. However, as Canada's top division (Major League Soccer, based in the United States) only has 3 Canadian teams, they are only eligible to send one team. As a result the fifth-ranked, seventh-ranked, and tenth-ranked associations are granted an additional bid (their fourth-placed, third-placed, and runner-up teams respectively).

Association team allocation

A total of 60 teams (61 if the title holders do not qualify via their domester league) from 39 of the 41

Sint Maarten, which have not organized domestic leagues since 2004 and 2007, respectively). The association rankings, based on the CONCACAF country coefficients
, are used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:

  • Associations 1 and 2 each five teams qualify.
  • Association 3 (Canada) has one team qualify.
  • Associations 4 and 5 have four teams qualify.
  • Associations 6 and 7 have three teams qualify.
  • Associations 8–10 each have two teams qualify.
  • Associations 11–39 each have one team qualify.

Association ranking (2014–15)

For the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their

CFU Club Championships (Belize
was automatically ranked ahead of all Caribbean teams that had the same coefficient as them).

Rank Association Coeff. Teams
1 Mexico Mexico 118.250 5
2 United States United States 71.750
3 Canada Canada 59.000 1
4 Costa Rica Costa Rica 56.167 4
5 Guatemala Guatemala 45.000
6 Honduras Honduras 43.333 3
7 Panama Panama 39.333
8
El Salvador
 37.833 2
9 Puerto Rico Puerto Rico 35.000
10
Trinidad and Tobago
 25.000
11 Nicaragua Nicaragua 14.000 1
12 Haiti Haiti 8.000
13 Guyana Guyana 5.000
Rank Association Coeff. Teams
14 Belize Belize 0.000 1
15 Suriname Suriname
16 Curaçao Curaçao
17 Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda
18 Jamaica Jamaica
19 Cayman Islands Cayman Islands
20 Bermuda Bermuda
21 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
22
Guadeloupe
23
Saint Kitts and Nevis
24 Saint Lucia Saint Lucia
25 Dominica Dominica
26 Aruba Aruba
Rank Association Coeff. Teams
27 Cuba Cuba 0.000 1
28 United States Virgin Islands U.S. Virgin Islands
29 Turks and Caicos Islands Turks and Caicos Islands
30 Grenada Grenada
31 Dominican Republic Dominican Republic
32 British Virgin Islands British Virgin Islands
33 Barbados Barbados
34 The Bahamas Bahamas
35 Anguilla Anguilla
36 Bonaire Bonaire
37
French Guiana
38 Martinique Martinique
39
Saint-Martin

Teams

League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses (TH: Title holders).

Group stage
Mexico Cruz AzulTH (4th)[Note MEX] United States New York Red Bulls (2nd) Costa Rica Saprissa (2nd) El Salvador Isidro Metapán (1st)
Mexico León (1st) United States Portland Timbers (3rd)
1st
)
Bayamón (1st
)
Mexico Pachuca (2nd) Canada Montreal Impact (1st)
Olimpia (1st
) 		Trinidad and Tobago W Connection (1st)
1st
)
Alajuelense (1st
) 		Panama Tauro (1st)
Real Estelí (1st
)
Play-off round
Champions Non-champions
Haiti AS Mirebalais (1st) Mexico América (3rd)[Note MEX]
2nd
) 		Panama San Francisco (3rd)
Guyana Alpha United (1st) Mexico Santos Laguna (5th)
3rd
) 		El Salvador FAS (2nd)
Belmopan Bandits (1st
)
4th
)
4th
) 		Puerto Rico Sevilla (2nd)
Suriname Inter Moengotapoe (1st) United States Real Salt Lake (5th) Honduras Real España (2nd)
Central (2nd
)
Costa Rica Herediano (3rd) Honduras Real Sociedad (3rd)
Universidad de Costa Rica (4th
)
Chorrillo (2nd
)
Qualifying round
Champions
Curaçao Centro Dominguito (1st) Guadeloupe CS Moulien (1st)
Helenites (1st
) 		The Bahamas Bears (1st)
SAP (1st
) 		Saint Kitts and Nevis St. Paul's United (1st)
1st
) 		Anguilla Attackers (1st)
Jamaica Montego Bay United (1st) Saint Lucia Big Players (1st) Grenada Hard Rock (1st)
1st
)
1st
)
Northern Bombers (1st
) 		Dominican Republic Moca (1st)
US Matoury (1st
)
Bermuda Dandy Town Hornets (1st) Aruba Britannia (1st) British Virgin Islands Islanders (1st) Martinique Club Franciscain (1st)
Pastures (1st
) 		Cuba Ciego de Ávila (1st) Barbados Barbados Defence Force (1st) Collectivity of Saint Martin Junior Stars (1st)

Notes:

  1. ^
    Mexico (MEX): Cruz Azul, the title holders, qualified as Mexico's fourth-placed team (by virtue of being the non-finalist with the best regular season record in the 2014 Clausura). This would normally place them in the play-off round for non-champions. However, the title holder is guaranteed a spot in the group stage. So, Cruz Azul were placed in the group stage at the expense of América, Mexico's third-placed team (by virtue of being the runner-up in the 2013 Apertura), who were demoted to the play-off round for non-champions.

Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition is as follows.

Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying Qualifying round 18 July 2014 29–30 July 2014 5–6 August 2014
Play-off Play-off round 8 August 2014 19–20 August 2014 26–27 August 2014
Group stage Matchday 1 28 August 2014 16–17 September 2014
Matchday 2 30 September–1 October 2014
Matchday 3 21–22 October 2014
Matchday 4 4–5 November 2014
Matchday 5 25–26 November 2014
Matchday 6 9–10 December 2014
Knockout phase Round of 16 15 December 2014 17–18 & 24–25 February 2015 10–11 & 17–18 March 2015
Quarter-finals 20 March 2015 14–15 April 2015 21–22 April 2015
Semi-finals 24 April 2015 5–6 May 2015 12–13 May 2015
Final 30 May 2015 6 June 2015

Qualifying round

In the qualifying round and the play-off round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their CONCACAF club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams with the same club coefficient were ranked based on their league's ranking. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other. The losing teams entered the CONCACAF SuperLiga play-off round.

The draw for the first and second qualifying rounds was held on 18 July 2014. The first legs were played on 29 and 30 July, and the second legs were played on 5 and 6 August 2014.

Team 1
Agg.
Tooltip Aggregate score 		Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Junior Stars Collectivity of Saint Martin 1–2 Cayman Islands Bodden Town 0–1 1–1
Islanders British Virgin Islands 1–6
SAP
 0–2 1–4
Moca Dominican Republic 1–1 (0–3 p) Aruba Britannia 0–1 1–0 (a.e.t.)
US Matoury French Guiana
 0–2 Cuba Ciego de Ávila 0–0 0–2
Barbados Defence Force Barbados 6–8 Curaçao Centro Dominguito 1–7 5–1
Club Franciscain Martinique 3–5 Guadeloupe CS Moulien 2–1 1–4
Helenites United States Virgin Islands
 1–3 Saint Lucia Big Players 1–2 0–1
Juventus Bonaire 1–4 Bermuda Dandy Town Hornets 1–1 0–3
Attackers Anguilla 4–5
Pastures
 1–4 3–1
Bears The Bahamas 1–5 Jamaica Montego Bay United 0–3 1–2
Hard Rock Grenada 3–4
Northern Bombers
 3–2 0–2
AFC Academy Turks and Caicos Islands 1–6 Saint Kitts and Nevis St. Paul's United 0–3 1–3


Play-off round

The play-off round was split into two separate sections: one for champions (Champions Route) and one for non-champions (League Route). The losing teams in both sections entered the CONCACAF SuperLiga group stage.

The draw for the play-off round was held on 8 August 2014. The first legs were played on 19 and 20 August, and the second legs were played on 26 and 27 August 2014.

Team 1
Agg.
Tooltip Aggregate score 		Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Champions Route
CS Moulien Guadeloupe 2–3
Belmopan Bandits
 2–1 0–2
St. Paul's United Saint Kitts and Nevis 2–5 Curaçao Centro Dominguito 1–2 1–3
Britannia Aruba 2–3 Jamaica Montego Bay United 1–0 1–3
Dandy Town Hornets Bermuda 1–4 Cayman Islands Bodden Town 1–0 0–4
Pastures Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
 3–0 Guyana Alpha United 1–0 2–0
Ciego de Ávila Cuba 2–1 Suriname Inter Moengotapoe 1–0 1–1
Northern Bombers Dominica
 4–4 (a) Haiti AS Mirebalais 1–2 3–2
Big Players Saint Lucia 0–2
SAP
 0–2 0–0
League Route
USAC Guatemala
 2–1 United States D.C. United 1–0 1–1
Heredia Guatemala 8–3 Honduras Real España 6–1 2–2
Real Sociedad Honduras 3–3 (a) Mexico América 1–0 1–2
FAS El Salvador 1–5 Costa Rica Herediano 1–3 0–2
Universidad de Costa Rica Costa Rica
 4–6 Panama San Francisco 2–2 2–4
Sevilla Puerto Rico 2–6 Mexico Santos Laguna 2–3 0–3
Chorrillo Panama
 2–3 Guatemala Municipal 2–0 0–3
Central Trinidad and Tobago
 1–2 United States Real Salt Lake 1–0 0–2


Group stage

Alajuelense
Saprissa
Herediano
class=notpageimage|
Location of teams of the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League group stage.
Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D; Green: Group E; Blue: Group F; Purple: Group G;
Pink: Group H.