The 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League was the second edition of the
CONCACAF Champions League
The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Amer ...
under its current format, and overall the 45th edition of the premier
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 uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; types ...
, the regional governing body of North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament began on July 28, 2009 and ran through April 28, 2010.
All four Mexican teams topped their groups and reached the semi-finals, with
Pachuca
Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whi ...
winning the final against
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 ...
with a 2–2 aggregate score, via the
away goals rule
The away goals rule is a method of 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 team that ...
. As winners, Pachuca qualified for the
2010 FIFA Club World Cup
The 2010 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2010 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament that was played from 8 to 18 December 2010. It was the seventh FIFA Club World Cup and was ...
as the CONCACAF representative. Atlante are the defending champions, but failed to qualify and cannot defend titles.
Qualification
24 teams participated in the 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League from the ''
North American
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 Ca ...
'', ''
Central American
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. C ...
'', and ''
Caribbean'' zones. Nine of the teams came from North America, twelve from Central America, and three from the Caribbean. However, after problems in the previous year's tournament, CONCACAF decided that teams may be disqualified and replaced if they don't have a stadium for the tournament that CONCACAF deems suitable.
* ''Central America'': 12 Central American clubs can qualify to the Champions League. If one or more clubs is precluded, it will be supplanted by a club from another Central American federation. The reallocation would be based on results from the
2008–09 CONCACAF Champions League
The 2008–09 CONCACAF Champions League was the first edition of the CONCACAF club football championship modelled after the UEFA Champions League, replacing the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, and overall the 44th edition of the premier football club c ...
.
* ''Caribbean'': If any Caribbean club is precluded, it will supplanted by the "
2009 CFU Club Championship" 4th-place finisher.
Also, in response to fixture congestion during the previous year's tournament, the Central American representatives that qualify via split seasons will no longer play-off solely to determine which team will gain entry into the Group Stage. In nations that regularly play a playoff to determine a national champion, these will continue as usual. For those that don't, total points over both seasons, followed by other tiebreakers, will determine which team enters the Group Stage without playing extra matches.
Reallocation of bids
It was announced on May 12, 2009 that
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wa ...
had lost their lone qualification to
Honduras due to the inability of the Belize federation to meet CONCACAF's minimum requirements in regards to stadium facilities. The spot vacated by Belize was awarded to Honduras, increasing their total to three qualified clubs, due to their association's teams' superior performance in the 2008–09 Champions League.
A second bid was reallocated on June 9 when it was determined that
Real Estelí
Real may refer to:
Currencies
* Brazilian real (R$)
* Central American Republic real
* Mexican real
* Portuguese real
* Spanish real
* Spanish colonial real
Music Albums
* ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000)
* ''Real'' (Bright album) ( ...
of
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...
did not have a suitable venue to host a CONCACAF club match.
The Nicaraguan bid was initially intended to be given to a third team from Panama, but Panama only had one stadium pass inspection, which under CONCACAF rules, meant that only two Panamanian clubs could host matches. Thus, the bid was awarded to a third team from Costa Rica,
Herediano, the highest non-champion from the combined
2008 Invierno and
2009 Verano seasons. Initially, there was a tie between Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala, based upon the results of the 2008–09 Champions League, for the reallocated Nicaraguan bid. Therefore, CONCACAF officials drew on results from previous CONCACAF tournaments in order to break the tie, which proved Costa Rica to historically have the strongest representation.
On July 10, 2009 CONCACAF announced that
Luís Ángel Firpo of El Salvador was invited to take the place of
Chalatenango due to Chalatengo's failure to sign and return the required participation agreement.
Firpo was selected as the team with the second-best cumulative record among the runners-up in the El Salvadoran Apertura and Clausura championships.
Teams
Teams in bold qualify directly for the Group Stage.
1 Columbus Crew were both the
2008 MLS Supporters' Shield and
2008 MLS Cup
MLS Cup 2008 was the 13th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS). The soccer match took place on November 23, 2008, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, near Los Angeles. It was contested betw ...
winner, so Houston Dynamo claimed the second USA berth in the group stage as the 2008 MLS Supporters' Shield runners-up.
2 Berth originally awarded to
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...
(
Real Estelí
Real may refer to:
Currencies
* Brazilian real (R$)
* Central American Republic real
* Mexican real
* Portuguese real
* Spanish real
* Spanish colonial real
Music Albums
* ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000)
* ''Real'' (Bright album) ( ...
), was rescinded after a failed stadium inspection by CONCACAF officials. The berth was awarded to Costa Rica.
3 Berth originally awarded to
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wa ...
(
Belize Defence Force
The Belize Defence Force (BDF) is the military of Belize, and is responsible for protecting the sovereignty of the country. The BDF is under the Ministry of National Defence and Border Security, which is currently headed by Hon. Florencio Marin Jr ...
), but Belize failed the CONCACAF stadium requirements. The berth was awarded to Honduras.
4 Isidro Metapán won both the
2008 Apertura and
2009 Clausura. As a result, the second Salvadoran bid was awarded to the runners-up in the Apertura and Clausura tournaments with the better aggregate record,
Chalatenango (
2008 Apertura runners-up). When Chalatenango failed to file the required participation agreement, the runners-up with the second-best aggregate record were invited.
Format
There will be a two-legged Preliminary Round for 16 clubs, with the eight winners advancing to the Group Stage. The other eight qualified teams will be seeded directly into the Group Stage. The clubs involved in the Group Stage will be placed into four groups of four with each team playing the others in its group in both home and away matches. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Championship Round, which will consist of two-legged ties. The Final Round, to be held in late April 2010, will also be two-legged. The
away goals
The away goals rule is a method of 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 team that ...
rule will be used, but will not apply once a tie enters extra time.
Schedule
Preliminary round
The draw for the preliminary round was held on June 11, 2009, at the CONCACAF headquarters in New York City. The first legs of the preliminary round were played the week of July 28, 2009, while the second legs were played the week of August 4, 2009; this is a month earlier than the previous season.
The Preliminary Round schedule was announced on June 16, five days after the draw.
Group stage
The Group Stage was played in 6 rounds during August–October 2009. The rounds were August 18–20, August 25–27, September 15–17, September 22–24, September 29–October 1, and October 20–22.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Championship round
The championship round draw was conducted on November 17.
Bracket
Each of the Championship rounds will be played over two legs.
Quarterfinals
The first legs of the Quarterfinals were played the week of March 9, 2010, while the second legs were played the week of March 16, 2010.
Semifinals
The first legs of the Semifinals were played the week of March 30, 2010, while the second legs were played the week of April 6, 2010.
Final
The first leg of the Final was played on April 21, 2010, while the second leg was played on April 28, 2010.
Top goalscorers
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:2009-10 Concacaf Champions League
CONCACAF Champions League seasons
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