The final major game of the MLS regular season is getting ready to get underway this weekend, but another major tournament for five teams in the league is just around the corner. Toronto FC, FC Dallas, New York Red Bulls, Seattle Sounders FC and Colorado Rapids will all take part in the upcoming CONCACAF Champions League Draw.
The draw, set to take place on December 18, will feature two pots of teams with eight teams each. Toronto, New York, Dallas and Seattle will be featured in Pot 1, while Colorado will be on its own in Pot 2. The draw will be televised live from Miami on Univision Deportes.
For a bit of background on the CONCACAF Champions League tournament itself and how it works, check out our ABC's of Soccer article explaining all the basics.
This years tournament will be the first to feature the new knockout style first round, rather than a group stage like years prior. Before, teams would need to finish top two of their groups to advance to the next round. Now, teams will immediately play a home and away series to move on to the quarterfinals.
The way the draw will work, is when the first club is chosen from Pot 1, they will also be put into a bracket position from Pot A. Once all the positions from Pot 1 clubs has been figured out, clubs from Pot 2 will then be picked in conjunction with the bracket from Pot B. Each first round matchup will have one team from each pot. Clubs from the same association, such as two clubs from MLS, cannot face each other in the first round.
Games are set to start up on February 20 with the round of 16 running until March 1. This will be a difficult time for the MLS teams, since they will be in the midst of preseason and not in full season shape like the other teams from CONCACAF. This has played a big factor into games in previous years and will most likely again, especially with the tournament starting with the knockout rounds.
The dates of the tournament are as follows:
Round of 16: February 20-22 and February 27- March 1
Quarterfinals: March 6-8 and March 13-15
Semifinals: April 3-5 and April 10-12
Finals: April 17-19 and April 24-26
