The 2015 CONCACAF Champions League Final was the final of the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League, the 7th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current format, and overall the 50th edition of the premium football club competition organized by

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...

, the regional governing body of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, and the Caribbean. The final was contested in two-legged home-and-away format between Mexican team América and Canadian team Montreal Impact. The first leg was hosted by América at

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of above sea level. Wit ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

on April 22, 2015, while the second leg was hosted by the Montreal Impact at

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

on April 29, 2015. The winner earned the right to represent

at the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup, entering at the quarterfinal stage. After a 1–1 first leg, América won the second leg 4–2 to win their sixth overall CONCACAF club title.

Background

For only the second time in seven seasons of the CONCACAF Champions League, the final featured a non-Mexican team, with the only previous occasion where it was not an all-Mexican final being in 2011, where

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 2 ...

lost to Monterrey. This was the first final of América in the CONCACAF Champions League era, but they had won the CONCACAF Champions' Cup title five times ( 1977, 1987,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, 1992, 2006). They were aiming to equal

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

's record of six CONCACAF club titles which was set in last year's final. Montreal Impact was the first Canadian team to reach a CONCACAF club final. They were aiming to become the first non-Mexican team to win in the CONCACAF Champions League era, and the third

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

team to win the CONCACAF club title after

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

( 1998) and LA Galaxy ( 2000).

Road to the final

''Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).''

Rules

The final was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...

would be used if the aggregate score was level after normal time of the second leg, but not after

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

, and so the final would be decided by

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

if the aggregate score was level after extra time of the second leg.

Matches

First leg

Montreal Impact took the lead in the 16th minute after

Ignacio Piatti Ignacio Alberto Piatti (born 4 February 1985) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a winger. Club career Piatti has played professional football in Europe with Saint-Étienne and Lecce. In his native Argentina, he has p ...

received a pass from

Dominic Oduro Dominic Oduro (born 13 August 1985) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a forward. Early career and education Oduro started his playing career in Ghana, playing for both Prempeh College and the University of Ghana before trans ...

to shoot home inside the penalty area. América equalized in the 89th minute, as half-time substitute

Oribe Peralta Oribe Peralta Morones (born 12 January 1984) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is an Olympic gold medalist. Peralta began his professional career with Morelia in 2003. He later played for León and Monte ...

, who was subbed on for Martinez, headed in Rubens Sambueza's free kick. Shortly after the equalizer, Montreal goalkeeper

Evan Bush Evan William Bush (born March 6, 1986) is an American soccer player, who plays as a goalkeeper for Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer. Career College and amateur Bush attended Lake Catholic High School in Mentor, Ohio and played college so ...

was shown a yellow card for kicking the ball Paul Aguilar, however, replays show that Aguilar jumped in front of the ball as Bush was kicking it away. Aguilar then proceeded to punch Bush in the face, which went unpunished. This yellow card was crucial, as it suspended Bush for the second leg of the final. Azteca entrance

Second leg

Montreal Impact took the lead in the 8th minute, after

Andrés Romero Andrés Fabián Romero (born 8 May 1981) is an Argentine professional golfer who plays on both the PGA Tour and European Tour. Career Romero was born in Tucumán. He won his European Tour card by finishing 14th on the Challenge Tour rankings ...

received

's pass, dribbled on goal and scored.

Darío Benedetto Darío Ismael Benedetto (born 17 May 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Argentine Primera División club Boca Juniors. Club career Early career Darío Benedetto began his career playing for Arsenal de Sara ...

had a golden chance just a few minutes later when he had a seemingly open goal from 4 yards out, but his shot hit the crossbar and the Impact cleared the ball away. Piatti had a great chance to extend the lead for Montreal midway through the first half, but Moisés Muñoz made a great save for Club America. The lead lasted until the 50th minute, as

equalized for América with a scissor kick from Osvaldo Martínez's cross. América took the lead in the 65th minute, when Darwin Quintero headed the ball across goal for

to head it in. Benedetto increased América's lead two minutes later as he stabbed in a cross from Miguel Samudio, and completed his hat-trick in the 81st minute with a curling shot after another assist from Quintero.

Jack McInerney John Seamus "Jack" McInerney (born August 5, 1992) is an American soccer player. Career Youth Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, McInerney moved with his family to Colorado, Illinois, California, and Florida before finally settling in Alpharetta, ...

added a consolation goal in the 88th minute as he scored from Piatti's pass. Le Stade Olympique 3

References

External links

CONCACAF Champions League
, CONCACAF.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Concacaf Champions League Finals 2015 *Finals Club América matches CF Montréal matches 2014–15 in Mexican football 2015 in Canadian soccer 2015 in Quebec International club association football competitions hosted by Mexico CONCACAF Champions League finals