2019 Concacaf Champions League

2019 CONCACAF Champions League

2019 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League
Estadio BBVA in Guadalupe hosted the second leg of the final
Tournament details
Dates	19 February – 1 May 2019
Teams	16 (from 9 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Monterrey (4th title)
Runners-up	UANL
Tournament statistics
Matches played	30
Goals scored	93 (3.1 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Enner Valencia (7 goals)
Best player(s)	Nicolás Sánchez
Best young player	Jonathan González
Best goalkeeper	Marcelo Barovero
Fair play award	Sporting Kansas City
← 2018 2020 →

Monterrey defeated UANL 2–1 on aggregate in the final to win their fourth title. As the winners of the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League, they qualified for the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar. Guadalajara were the title holders, but did not qualify for this tournament and were unable to defend their title.

A total of 16 teams participated in the CONCACAF Champions League:

• North American Zone: 9 teams (from three associations)
• Central American Zone: 5 teams (from five associations)
• Caribbean Zone: 1 team (from one association)
• Winners of the CONCACAF League (from one association, from either Central American Zone or Caribbean Zone)

Therefore, teams from either 9 or 10 out of the 41 CONCACAF member associations could participate in the CONCACAF Champions League.

North America

The nine berths for the North American Football Union (NAFU) were allocated to the three NAFU member associations as follows: four berths each for Mexico and the United States, and one berth for Canada.

For Mexico, the champions and runners-up of the Liga MX Apertura and Clausura Liguilla (playoff) tournaments qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. If there was any team which were finalists of both tournaments, the vacated berth was reallocated using a formula, based on regular season records, that ensured that two teams qualified via each tournament.

For the United States, because of the restructuring of the CONCACAF Champions League starting from 2018, two teams each from the 2017 and 2018 seasons qualified for the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League:

• The champions of the MLS Cup, the championship match of the MLS Cup Playoffs, in 2017 and 2018
• The champions of the U.S. Open Cup, its domestic cup competition, in 2017 and 2018

This meant that the Supporters' Shield champions in 2017 and 2018, and the Eastern Conference or Western Conference regular season champions which were not Supporters' Shield champions in 2017 and 2018, which would have qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League in the usual setup, were not guaranteed a berth in the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League. If there was any team which qualified through multiple berths, or if there was any Canada-based MLS team which were champions of the 2017 or 2018 MLS Cup, the vacated berth was reallocated to the U.S.-based team with the best aggregate record over the 2017 and 2018 MLS regular seasons.

For Canada, the champions of the Canadian Championship, its domestic cup competition which awards the Voyageurs Cup, qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. While some Canada-based teams competed in MLS, they could not qualify through either the MLS regular season or playoffs.

Central America

The five berths for the Central American Football Union (UNCAF) were allocated to five of the seven UNCAF member associations as follows: one berth for each of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama. As all of the leagues of Central America employed a split season with two tournaments in one season, the champions with the better aggregate record (or any team which were champions of both tournaments) in the leagues of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. Another 13 teams from Central America, which qualified through their domestic leagues, entered the CONCACAF League.

If teams from any Central American associations were excluded, they were replaced by teams from other Central American associations, with the associations chosen based on results from previous CONCACAF Champions League tournaments.

Caribbean

The sole berth for the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), which consisted of 31 member associations, was allocated via the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship, the first-tier subcontinental Caribbean club tournament. Since 2018, the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship was open to teams from professional leagues. To qualify for the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship, teams had to finish as the champions or runners-up of their respective association's league in the previous season.

The champions of the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League. Another three teams from the Caribbean, which qualified through the CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship or CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield (via a playoff), entered the CONCACAF League.

CONCACAF League

Besides the 15 direct entrants of the CONCACAF Champions League, another 16 teams (13 from Central America and 3 from the Caribbean) entered the CONCACAF League, a tournament held from August to October prior to the CONCACAF Champions League. The champions of the CONCACAF League qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League.

The following 16 teams (from nine associations) 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).

Qualified teams from North America (9 teams)

Association	Team	Qualifying method	App. (last)	Previous best (last)
Mexico (4 berths)	UANL	2017 Apertura champions	5th (2018)	Runners-up (2016–17)
	Santos Laguna	2018 Clausura champions	6th (2015–16)	Runners-up (2012–13)
	Monterrey	2017 Apertura runners-up	5th (2016–17)	Champions (2012–13)
	Toluca	2018 Clausura runners-up	4th (2013–14)	Runners-up (2013–14)
United States (4 berths)	Atlanta United FC	2018 MLS Cup champions[Note USA]	1st	Debut
	Sporting Kansas City	2017 U.S. Open Cup champions[Note USA]	4th (2016–17)	Quarter-finals (2013–14)
	Houston Dynamo	2018 U.S. Open Cup champions[Note USA]	5th (2013–14)	Quarter-finals (2012–13)
	New York Red Bulls	U.S. non-champions with best aggregate record in 2017 and 2018 MLS regular seasons[Note USA]	5th (2018)	Semi-finals (2018)
Canada (1 berth)	Toronto FC	2018 Canadian Championship champions	6th (2018)	Runners-up (2018)

Qualified teams from Central America (6 teams)

Association	Team	Qualifying method	App. (last)	Previous best (last)
Costa Rica (1 berth + CL winner)	Saprissa	Champions with better aggregate record in 2017–18 season (2018 Clausura)	8th (2018)	Semi-finals (2010–11)
	Herediano	2018 CONCACAF League champions	9th (2018)	Semi-finals (2014–15)
El Salvador (1 berth)	Alianza	2017 Apertura and 2018 Clausura champions	3rd (2016–17)	Group stage (2016–17)
Guatemala (1 berth)	Guastatoya	2018 Guatemalan CONCACAF Champions League playoff winners[Note GUA]	1st	Debut
Honduras (1 berth)	Marathón	Champions with better aggregate record in 2017–18 season (2018 Clausura)	5th (2012–13)	Quarter-finals (2009–10)
Panama (1 berth)	Independiente	Champions with better aggregate record in 2017–18 season (2018 Clausura)	1st	Debut

Qualified teams from Caribbean (1 team)

Association	Team	Qualifying method	App. (last)	Previous best (last)
Dominican Republic	Atlético Pantoja	2018 CONCACAF Caribbean Club Championship champions	1st	Debut

Notes

 

 

Monterrey

 

Toluca

 

Santos Laguna

 

Atlanta United FC

 

Sporting Kansas City

 

Houston Dynamo

 

New York Red Bulls

 

Toronto FC

 

Costa Rica

 

Alianza

 

Guastatoya

 

Marathón

 

Independiente

 

Atlético Pantoja

 

Monterrey teams
  Monterrey
  UANL

Costa Rica teams
  Herediano
  Saprissa

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Location of teams of the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League
  North American Zone   Central American Zone   Caribbean Zone

The draw for the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League was held on 3 December 2018, 19:00 EST (UTC−5), at the Univision Studios in Miami.

The draw determined each tie in the round of 16 (numbered 1 through 8) between a team from Pot 1 and a team from Pot 2, each containing eight teams. The "Bracket Position Pots" (Pot A and Pot B) contained the bracket positions numbered 1 through 8 corresponding to each tie. The teams from Pot 1 were assigned a bracket position from Pot A and the teams from Pot 2 were assigned a bracket position from Pot B. Teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other in the round of 16 except for "wildcard" teams which replaced a team from another association.^{[citation needed]}

The seeding of teams were based on the CONCACAF Club Index. Each team qualified for the CONCACAF League based on criteria set by the respective associations (e.g., tournament champions, runners-up, cup champions), resulting in an assigned slot (e.g., MEX1, MEX2) for each team. The CONCACAF Club Index, instead of ranking each team, was based on the on-field performance of the teams that have occupied the respective qualifying slots in the previous five editions of the CONCACAF Champions League. To determine the total points awarded to a slot in any single edition of the CONCACAF Champions League, CONCACAF used the following formula:

The 16 teams were distributed in the pots as follows:

Pot	Rank	Slot	2013–14	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17	2018	Total	Team
Pot 1	1	MEX3	29	32	23	15	17	116	Monterrey
	2	MEX1	22	11	33	27	12	105	UANL
	3	MEX2	10	16	20	30	25	101	Santos Laguna
	4	CAN1	10	23	8	22	21	84	Toronto FC
	5	USA3	11	13	16	20	17	77	Houston Dynamo
	6	MEX4	29	9	18	10	9	75	Toluca
	7	USA4	16	20	16	8	5	65	New York Red Bulls[USA]
	8	USA1	17	11	14	11	11	64	Atlanta United FC[USA]
Pot 2	9	PAN1	15	4	10	20	8	57	Independiente
	10	USA2	13	9	13	14	7	56	Sporting Kansas City
	11	CRC1	19	12	10	8	5	54	Saprissa
	12	HON1	11	15	10	11	5	52	Marathón
	13	GUA1	10	11	8	9	0	38	Guastatoya
	14	SLV1	8	4	7	9	7	35	Alianza
	15	CCC1	5	4	8	5	4	26	Atlético Pantoja
	16	SCL1	0	0	0	0	5	5	Herediano

Notes

In the CONCACAF Champions League, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis.

• In the round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals, the away goals rule was applied if the aggregate score was tied after the second leg. If still tied, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations II, Article F).
• In the final, the away goals rule was not applied, and extra time would be played if the aggregate score was tied after the second leg. If the aggregate score was still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (Regulations II, Article G).

The schedule of the competition was as follows.

Times are Eastern Time, as listed by CONCACAF (local times are in parentheses):

• Times up to 9 March 2019 (round of 16 and quarter-finals first legs) are Eastern Standard Time, i.e., UTC−5.
• Times thereafter (quarter-finals second legs and beyond) are Eastern Daylight Time, i.e., UTC−4.

In the round of 16, the matchups were decided by draw: R16-1 through R16-8. The teams from Pot 1 in the draw hosted the second leg.

Summary

The first legs were played from 19–21 February, and the second legs were played from 26–28 February 2019.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Marathón	2–11	Santos Laguna	2–6	0–5
Atlético Pantoja	0–5	New York Red Bulls	0–2	0–3
Saprissa	2–5	UANL	1–0	1–5
Guastatoya	1–3	Houston Dynamo	0–1	1–2
Sporting Kansas City	5–0	Toluca	3–0	2–0
Independiente	5–1	Toronto FC	4–0	1–1
Herediano	3–5	Atlanta United FC	3–1	0–4
Alianza	0–1	Monterrey	0–0	0–1

Matches

20 February 2019 (2019-02-20)

20:00 (19:00 UTC−6)

Marathón	2–6	Santos Laguna
Ramírez   50' Arboleda   74'	Report	Correa   19', 32', 38' Dória   49' Moreno   61' Furch   68'

Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula

Referee: Yadel Martínez (Cuba)

27 February 2019 (2019-02-27)

20:00 (19:00 UTC−6)

Santos Laguna	5–0	Marathón
Moreno   19' Furch   22' Rivas   31' Aguirre   81' De Buen   85' (pen.)	Report

Estadio Corona, Torreón

Referee: Drew Fischer (Canada)

Santos Laguna won 11–2 on aggregate.

20 February 2019 (2019-02-20)

20:00 (21:00 UTC−4)

Atlético Pantoja	0–2	New York Red Bulls
	Report	Innocent   39' (o.g.) Royer   66'

Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez, Santo Domingo

Referee: Ismael Cornejo (El Salvador)

27 February 2019 (2019-02-27)

20:00 (20:00 UTC−5)

New York Red Bulls	3–0	Atlético Pantoja
Davis   27' Royer   32' (pen.) Ivan   75'	Report

Red Bull Arena, Harrison

Attendance: 3,417

Referee: John Pitti (Panama)

New York Red Bulls won 5–0 on aggregate.

19 February 2019 (2019-02-19)

20:00 (19:00 UTC−6)

Saprissa	1–0	UANL
Venegas   73'	Report

Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, Tibás

Referee: Jair Marrufo (United States)

26 February 2019 (2019-02-26)

22:00 (21:00 UTC−6)

UANL	5–1	Saprissa
David   15' (o.g.) Valencia   25' (pen.), 27', 62' Vargas   37'	Report	Torres   45'

Estadio Universitario, San Nicolás de los Garza

Attendance: 40,345

Referee: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador)

UANL won 5–2 on aggregate.

19 February 2019 (2019-02-19)

22:00 (21:00 UTC−6)

Guastatoya	0–1	Houston Dynamo
	Report	Beasley   84'

Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores, Guatemala City

Referee: Kimbell Ward (Saint Kitts and Nevis)

26 February 2019 (2019-02-26)

20:00 (19:00 UTC−6)

Houston Dynamo	2–1	Guastatoya
Manotas   77', 85'	Report	Navarro   72'

BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston

Attendance: 10,021

Referee: Saíd Martínez (Honduras)

Houston Dynamo won 3–1 on aggregate.

21 February 2019 (2019-02-21)

20:00 (19:00 UTC−6)

Sporting Kansas City	3–0	Toluca
Németh   35' Gerso   52' Ilie   72'	Report

Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City

Attendance: 13,927

Referee: Henry Bejarano (Costa Rica)

28 February 2019 (2019-02-28)

22:00 (21:00 UTC−6)

Toluca	0–2	Sporting Kansas City
	Report	Gerso   8' Németh   62' (pen.)

Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca

Attendance: 14,519

Referee: Mario Escobar (Guatemala)

Sporting Kansas City won 5–0 on aggregate.

19 February 2019 (2019-02-19)

20:00 (20:00 UTC−5)

Independiente	4–0	Toronto FC
Ayarza   9' Browne   48' Ivey   52', 78'	Report

Estadio Agustín Sánchez, La Chorrera

Referee: Iván Barton (El Salvador)

26 February 2019 (2019-02-26)

20:00 (20:00 UTC−5)

Toronto FC	1–1	Independiente
Hamilton   19'	Report	Browne   67'

BMO Field, Toronto

Referee: Juan Gabriel Calderón (Costa Rica)

Independiente won 5–1 on aggregate.

21 February 2019 (2019-02-21)

22:00 (21:00 UTC−6)

Herediano	3–1	Atlanta United FC
Ortiz   8' Azofeifa   34' Granados   49'	Report	Gressel   41'

Estadio Eladio Rosabal Cordero, Heredia

Referee: César Ramos (Mexico)

28 February 2019 (2019-02-28)

20:00 (20:00 UTC−5)

Atlanta United FC	4–0	Herediano
J. Martínez   1', 63' Gressel   9' González Pírez   83'	Report

Fifth Third Bank Stadium, Kennesaw

Referee: Oshane Nation (Jamaica)

Atlanta United FC won 5–3 on aggregate.

20 February 2019 (2019-02-20)

22:00 (21:00 UTC−6)

Alianza	0–0	Monterrey
	Report

Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador

Referee: Kevin Morrison (Jamaica)

27 February 2019 (2019-02-27)

22:00 (21:00 UTC−6)

Monterrey	1–0	Alianza
Sánchez   86' (pen.)	Report

Estadio BBVA Bancomer, Guadalupe

Referee: David Gantar (Canada)

Monterrey won 1–0 on aggregate.

In the quarter-finals, the matchups were determined as follows:

• QF1: Winner R16-1 vs. Winner R16-2
• QF2: Winner R16-3 vs. Winner R16-4
• QF3: Winner R16-5 vs. Winner R16-6
• QF4: Winner R16-7 vs. Winner R16-8

The winners of round of 16 matchups 1, 3, 5, 7 hosted the second leg.

Summary

The first legs were played from 5–6 March, and the second legs were played from 12–14 March 2019.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
New York Red Bulls	2–6	Santos Laguna	0–2	2–4
Houston Dynamo	0–3	UANL	0–2	0–1
Independiente	2–4	Sporting Kansas City	2–1	0–3
Monterrey	3–1	Atlanta United FC	3–0	0–1

Matches

5 March 2019 (2019-03-05)

20:00 (20:00 UTC−5)

New York Red Bulls	0–2	Santos Laguna
	Report	Valdés   42' Furch   47'

Red Bull Arena, Harrison

Referee: Saíd Martínez (Honduras)

12 March 2019 (2019-03-12)

21:00 (19:00 UTC−6)

Santos Laguna	4–2	New York Red Bulls
Abella   72' Lozano   76', 81' Valdés   79'	Report	Fernandez   4' Royer   9'

Estadio Corona, Torreón

Referee: John Pitti (Panama)

Santos Laguna won 6–2 on aggregate.

5 March 2019 (2019-03-05)

22:00 (21:00 UTC−6)

Houston Dynamo	0–2	UANL
	Report	Valencia   78' J. Quiñones   81'

BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston

Attendance: 16,890

Referee: Iván Barton (El Salvador)

12 March 2019 (2019-03-12)

23:00 (21:00 UTC−6)

UANL	1–0	Houston Dynamo
Salcedo   67'	Report

Estadio Universitario, San Nicolás de los Garza

Attendance: 41,615

Referee: Yadel Martínez (Cuba)

UANL won 3–0 on aggregate.

6 March 2019 (2019-03-06)

20:00 (20:00 UTC−5)

Independiente	2–1	Sporting Kansas City
Ivey   39' Corpas   59'	Report	Ilie   51' (pen.)

Estadio Agustín Sánchez, La Chorrera

Referee: Fernando Guerrero (Mexico)

14 March 2019 (2019-03-14)

20:00 (19:00 UTC−5)

Sporting Kansas City	3–0	Independiente
Németh   74', 86' Espinoza   82'	Report

Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City

Attendance: 13,212

Referee: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador)

Sporting Kansas City won 4–2 on aggregate.

6 March 2019 (2019-03-06)

22:00 (21:00 UTC−6)

Monterrey	3–0	Atlanta United FC
Sánchez   17' (pen.) Pabón   80' Gallardo   84'	Report

Estadio BBVA Bancomer, Guadalupe

Referee: Ismael Cornejo (El Salvador)

13 March 2019 (2019-03-13)

20:00 (20:00 UTC−4)

Atlanta United FC	1–0	Monterrey
J. Martínez   78'	Report

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta

Attendance: 40,048

Referee: Henry Bejarano (Costa Rica)

Monterrey won 3–1 on aggregate.

In the semi-finals, the matchups were determined as follows:

• SF1: Winner QF1 vs. Winner QF2
• SF2: Winner QF3 vs. Winner QF4

The semi-finalists in each tie which had the better performance in previous rounds hosted the second leg.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Host
1 (SF1)	Santos Laguna	4	4	0	0	17	4	+13	12	Second leg
2 (SF1)	UANL	4	3	0	1	8	2	+6	9	First leg
1 (SF2)	Sporting Kansas City	4	3	0	1	9	2	+7	9	Second leg
2 (SF2)	Monterrey	4	2	1	1	4	1	+3	7	First leg

Summary

The first legs were played from 3–4 April, and the second legs were played from 10–11 April 2019.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
UANL	5–3	Santos Laguna	3–0	2–3
Monterrey	10–2	Sporting Kansas City	5–0	5–2

Matches

3 April 2019 (2019-04-03)

22:00 (20:00 UTC−6)

UANL	3–0	Santos Laguna
Vargas   8' Valencia   27', 37'	Report

Estadio Universitario, San Nicolás de los Garza

Referee: Ismail Elfath (United States)

10 April 2019 (2019-04-10)

20:00 (19:00 UTC−5)

Santos Laguna	3–2	UANL
Furch   41', 60' Valdés   77'	Report	Valencia   11' J. Quiñones   34'

Estadio Corona, Torreón

Referee: Marco Ortiz (Mexico)

UANL won 5–3 on aggregate.

4 April 2019 (2019-04-04)

22:00 (20:00 UTC−6)

Monterrey	5–0	Sporting Kansas City
Pabón   7', 76' Hurtado   14' Gallardo   55' Sánchez   70' (pen.)	Report

Estadio BBVA Bancomer, Guadalupe

Referee: Mario Escobar (Guatemala)

11 April 2019 (2019-04-11)

21:00 (20:00 UTC−5)

Sporting Kansas City	2–5	Monterrey
Gerso   6', 29'	Report	Funes Mori   20', 90' Pizarro   39' Layún   61' Hurtado   82'

Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City

Attendance: 18,467

Referee: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador)

Monterrey won 10–2 on aggregate.

In the final (winner SF1 vs. winner SF2), the finalist which had the better performances in previous rounds hosted the second leg.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Host
1	Monterrey	6	4	1	1	14	3	+11	13	Second leg
2	UANL	6	4	0	2	13	5	+8	12	First leg

Summary

The first leg was played on 23 April, and the second leg was played on 1 May 2019.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
UANL	1–2	Monterrey	0–1	1–1

Matches

23 April 2019 (2019-04-23)

22:00 (21:00 UTC−5)

UANL	0–1	Monterrey
	Report	Sánchez   43'

Estadio Universitario, San Nicolás de los Garza

Attendance: 41,615

Referee: John Pitti (Panama)

1 May 2019 (2019-05-01)

22:00 (21:00 UTC−5)

Monterrey	1–1	UANL
Sánchez   26' (pen.)	Report	Gignac   85'

Estadio BBVA Bancomer, Guadalupe

Attendance: 52,229

Referee: Jair Marrufo (United States)

Monterrey won 2–1 on aggregate.

Rank	Player	Club	Goals	By round
				1R1	1R2	QF1	QF2	SF1	SF2	F1	F2
1	Enner Valencia	UANL	7		3	1		2	1
2	Julio Furch	Santos Laguna	5	1	1	1			2
	Nicolás Sánchez	Monterrey			1	1		1		1	1
4	Gerso Fernandes	Sporting Kansas City	4	1	1				2
	Krisztián Németh	Sporting Kansas City		1	1		2
6	Javier Correa	Santos Laguna	3	3
	Romeesh Ivey	Independiente		2		1
	Josef Martínez	Atlanta United FC			2		1
	Dorlan Pabón	Monterrey				1		2
	Daniel Royer	New York Red Bulls		1	1		1
	Diego Valdés	Santos Laguna				1	1		1

Source: CONCACAF

• 2018 CONCACAF League