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 competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The championship began on August 26, 2008, and it concluded May 12, 2009.[1] Atlante of Mexico won the championship after defeating Cruz Azul, also from Mexico on aggregate at the Final. They represented CONCACAF in the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup.

2008–09 CONCACAF
Champions League

Tournament details
Dates	August 26, 2008 – April 30, 2009
Teams	24 (from 13 associations)
Final positions
Champion(s)	Atlante (2nd title)
Runners-up	Cruz Azul
Tournament statistics
Matches played	77
Goals scored	223 (2.9 per match)
Attendance	539,397 (7,005 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Javier Orozco (7 goals)

Qualification

24 teams from 13 nations participated in the 2008–09 CONCACAF Champions League from the North American, Central American, and Caribbean zones. Nine of the teams came from North America, twelve from Central America, and three from the Caribbean. Below is the qualification scheme for the 2008-09 competition:[2]

Teams in bold qualify directly for the Group Stage.

Association	Club	Qualifying method
North America (9 teams)
Mexico 4 berths	Atlante	2007 Apertura winners
	Santos Laguna	2008 Clausura winners
	U.N.A.M	2007 Apertura runners-up
	Cruz Azul	2008 Clausura runners-up
United States 4 berths	Houston Dynamo	2007 MLS Cup winners
	D.C. United	2007 MLS Supporters' Shield winners
	New England Revolution	2007 U.S. Open Cup winners and 2007 MLS Cup runners-up
	Chivas USA	2007 MLS Supporters' Shield runners-up^1
Canada 1 berth	Montreal Impact	2008 Canadian Championship winners
Central America (12 teams)
Costa Rica 2 berths	Saprissa	2007 Invierno and 2008 Verano winners
	Alajuelense	2008 Verano runners-up^2
Honduras 2 berths	Marathón	2007 Apertura winners
	Olimpia	2008 Clausura winners
Guatemala 2 berths	Jalapa	2007 Apertura winners
	Municipal	2008 Clausura winners
El Salvador 2 berths	Luis Ángel Firpo	2007 Apertura and 2008 Clausura winners
	Isidro Metapán	2008 Clausura runners-up^3
Panama 2 berths	San Francisco	2007 Clausura and 2008 Apertura winner
	Tauro	2008 Apertura runners-up^4
Belize 1 berth	Hankook Verdes	2007–08 Belize Premier Football League winners
Nicaragua 1 berth	Real Estelí	2007 Apertura and 2008 Clausura winners
Caribbean (3 teams)
Jamaica	Harbour View	2007 CFU Club Championship winners
Trinidad and Tobago	Joe Public	2007 CFU Club Championship runners-up
Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico Islanders	2007 CFU Club Championship third place

¹ New England were both the 2007 U.S. Open Cup winners and the 2007 MLS Cup runners-up, so Chivas USA claimed USA4 as the 2007 MLS Supporters' Shield runners-up.

² Saprissa were both the 2007 Invierno and 2008 Verano winners, so Alajuelense has claimed CRC2 as the 2008 Verano runners-up.

³ Luis Ángel Firpo were both the 2007 Apertura and 2008 Clausura winners, so Isidro Metapán has claimed SLV2 as the 2008 Clausura runners-up.

⁴ San Francisco were both the 2007 Clausura and 2008 Apertura winners, so Tauro has claimed PAN2 as the 2008 Apertura runners-up.

Format

There was a two-legged Preliminary Round for 16 clubs, with the eight winners advancing to the Group Stage. They were joined by the other eight teams who were seeded directly into the Group Stage. The clubs involved in the Group Stage were 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 Knockout Rounds, which will consist of two-legged ties. The Final Round, to be held in late April 2009, were also two-legged. Also, unlike the previously contested CONCACAF Champions' Cup, the away goals rule is used in the CONCACAF Champions League, but does not apply after a tie goes into extra time.[3]

Group Stage
Pot A	Atlante	Santos Laguna	Houston Dynamo	D.C. United
Pot B	Saprissa	Olimpia	Municipal	Luis Ángel Firpo
Preliminary Round
Pot A	Universidad Nacional	Cruz Azul	New England Revolution	Chivas USA
	Alajuelense	Marathón	San Francisco	Montreal Impact
Pot B	Jalapa	Isidro Metapán	Tauro	Hankook Verdes
	Real Estelí	Harbour View	Joe Public	Puerto Rico Islanders

Schedule

Round		Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Preliminary Round	Preliminary	June 11, 2008 (New York, US)	August 26–29, 2008	September 2–4, 2008
Group Stage	Matchday 1		August 16–18, 2008
	Matchday 2		August 23–25, 2008
	Matchday 3		September 30–October 2, 2008
	Matchday 4		October 7–9, 2008
	Matchday 5		October 21–23, 2008
	Matchday 6		October 28–30, 2008
Championship Round	Quarterfinals	December 10, 2008	February 24–26, 2009	March 3–5, 2009
	Semifinals		March 17–18, 2009	April 7–8, 2009
	Final		April 22, 2009	May 12, 2009

Preliminary round

The draw for the Preliminary Round was held on 11 June 2008 in New York City. The first legs of the Preliminary Round were played from 26 August 2008 to 28 August 2008, while the second legs were played from 2 September 2008 to 4 September 2008.[4]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Jalapa	1–5	San Francisco	1–0	0–5
Joe Public	6–1	New England Revolution	2–1	4–0
Alajuelense	2–3	Puerto Rico Islanders	1–1	1–2
Cruz Azul	12–0	Hankook Verdes	6–0	6–0
Harbour View	0–3	UNAM	N/A [5]	0–3
Tauro	3–1	Chivas USA	2–0	1–1
Montreal Impact	1–0	Real Estelí	1–0	0–0
Isidro Metapán	3–4	Marathón	2–2	1–2

The effects of Hurricane Gustav led to the cancellation of the first leg of the Harbour View - UNAM tie, and as a result the tie was contested as a single match.[6]

Group stage

The Group Stage draw was held on 11 June 2008 in New York City and was unveiled on 16 June 2008.[4] Winners and runners-up of each group advance to the quarterfinals.[3]

Group A

Club Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Marathón 6 4 1 1 12 5 +7 13 Cruz Azul 6 3 1 2 8 4 +4 10 Saprissa 6 3 1 2 7 9 −2 10 D.C. United 6 0 1 5 4 13 −9 1

DCU SAP CRU MAR D.C. United – 0–2 0–1 2–4 Saprissa 2–2 – 1–0 2–1 Cruz Azul 2–0 4–0 – 1–1 Marathón 2–0 2–0 2–0 –

• Cruz Azul were ranked ahead of Saprissa based on head-to-head record, which is the first tiebreaker.[3]

Group B

Club Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts UNAM 6 3 3 0 18 7 +11 12 Houston Dynamo 6 2 3 1 9 9 0 9 Luis Ángel Firpo 6 2 2 2 6 8 −2 8 San Francisco 6 0 2 4 4 13 −9 2

HOU LAF SFR UNAM Houston Dynamo – 1–0 2–1 1–3 Luis Ángel Firpo 1–1 – 1–0 1–1 San Francisco 0–0 2–3 – 1–1 UNAM 4–4 3–0 6–0 –

Group C

Club Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Atlante 6 3 2 1 6 3 +3 11 Montreal Impact 6 3 2 1 10 5 +5 11 Olimpia 6 2 2 2 10 6 +4 8 Joe Public 6 1 0 5 3 15 −12 3

ATL OLI JOE MON Atlante – 1–0 0–1 2–1 Olimpia 1–1 – 4–0 1–2 Joe Public 0–2 1–3 – 1–4 Montreal Impact 0–0 1–1 2–0 –

• Atlante were ranked ahead of Montreal Impact based on head-to-head record, which is the first tiebreaker.[3]

Group D

Club Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Santos Laguna 6 3 1 2 14 11 +3 10 Puerto Rico Islanders 6 2 2 2 9 10 −1 8 Tauro 6 2 2 2 9 10 −1 8 Municipal 6 1 3 2 12 13 −1 6

SAN MUN PRI TAU Santos Laguna – 3–2 3–0 3–0 Municipal 4–4 – 2–2 2–2 Puerto Rico Islanders 3–1 0–1 – 2–1 Tauro 2–0 2–1 2–2 –

• Puerto Rico Islanders were ranked ahead of Tauro based on head-to-head record, which is the first tiebreaker.[3]

Championship round

The draw for the Championship Round was held on 10 December 2008. In each round, teams will play their opponent once at home and once away. The four group winners from the Group Stage will play the second leg at home in the Quarterfinals. The order of the home and away matches for the Semifinals and Finals were determined at the draw.

In all rounds, if two teams are tied after both legs then two 15-minute halves of extra time are played. If the two teams are still tied on total goals after extra time a penalty shootout determines the winner.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals						Semifinals						Finals
	Puerto Rico Islanders	2	1	3
	Marathón	1	0	1
							Puerto Rico Islanders	2	1	3 (2)
							Cruz Azul (p)	0	3	3 (4)
	Cruz Azul	1	1	2
	UNAM	0	0	0
													Cruz Azul	0	0	0
													Atlante	2	0	2
	Montreal Impact	2	2	4
	Santos Laguna	0	5	5
							Santos Laguna	2	1	3
							Atlante	1	3	4
	Houston Dynamo	1	0	1
	Atlante	1	3	4

Quarterfinals

The first legs of the Quarterfinals were played from 24 February 2009 to 26 February 2009, while the second legs were played from 3 March 2009 to 5 March 2009.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Houston Dynamo	1–4	Atlante	1–1	0–3
Montreal Impact	4–5	Santos Laguna	2–0	2–5
Puerto Rico Islanders	3–1	Marathón	2–1	1–0
Cruz Azul	2–0	UNAM	1–0	1–0

Semifinals

The first legs of the Semifinals were played on 17 March and 18 March 2009, while the second legs were played on 7 April and 8 April 2009.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Puerto Rico Islanders	3–3 (2–4 p)	Cruz Azul	2–0	1–3 (aet)
Santos Laguna	3–4	Atlante	2–1	1–3

Final

Main article: 2009 CONCACAF Champions League Final

The two-legged Final was played on 22 April and 12 May 2009. The second leg was originally scheduled for 29 April, but was postponed until 12 May by CONCACAF due to concerns over an outbreak of Swine Flu in Mexico.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Cruz Azul	0–2	Atlante	0–2	0–0

CONCACAF Champions League 2008–09 Champions
Atlante Second Title

Leading goalscorers

Rank	Name	Club	Goals
1	Javier Orozco	Cruz Azul	7
2	Agustín Enrique Herrera	Santos Laguna	5
	Francisco Palencia	UNAM	5
	Guillermo Ramírez	Municipal	5
	Gregory Richardson	Joe Public	5
6	Brunet Hay	Tauro	4
	Edwin Aguilar	Tauro	4
	Christian Benítez	Santos Laguna	4
	Roberto Brown	Montreal Impact	4
	Milton Núñez	Marathón	4
	Carlos Quintero	Santos Laguna	4
	Vicente Matías Vuoso	Santos Laguna	4
	Pablo Zeballos	Cruz Azul	4

References

1. "CONCACAF Champions League Officially Launched" (Press release). CONCACAF. 2008-01-28. Archived from the original on 2008-06-14. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
2. "Qualifying Format Unveiled for 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League" (Press release). CONCACAF. 2008-05-14. Archived from the original on 2008-12-26. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
3. "CONCACAF Champions League Regulations 2008/2009" (PDF) (Press release). CONCACAF. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
4. "Preliminary Round match-ups unveiled for 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League" (Press release). CONCACAF. 2008-06-11. Archived from the original on 2008-06-14. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
5. "CONCACAF Champions League match rescheduled due to Hurricane Gustav" (Press release). CONCACAF. 2008-08-28. Archived from the original on 2008-09-03. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
6. "CONCACAF Champions League match between Harbour View - Pumas UNAM cancelled" (Press release). CONCACAF. 2008-08-29. Archived from the original on 2008-09-03. Retrieved 2008-08-29.