Concacaf Champions League 22’

The powers that be have pushed the schedule back to help MLS teams be in better form, and not sure if done on purpose, but it was an All-Mexican Primera and All-MLS Semi-Finals. Pumas and Seattle have advanced, so it will be the 5th time an MLS will have a shot to win it. 2 legged Final starts in late April.

 

Ok for you night owls back east, Pumas host Seattle on FS1 at 10:30 ET tonight. Believe it or not, the Sounders are actually favored to win this Final. One of the best ideas UEFA did was to get rid of the ‘away goals’ rule for the Champions League, but it’s still in play in the CCL and Seattle will need to find the back of the net before heading home. Pumas based in Mexico City are currently mid table (11th out of 18) in Liga Mx while the Sounders are 1 point behind first place in the Western Conference and one of three teams w/60 pts (New England, Colorado) in MLS.

 

Second leg is Tonight 7 PM kickoff left coast time FS1. The Sounders battled back and scored 2 vital away goals for a 2-2 Agg. It was a very chippy affair to say the least. The intensity won’t be lacking tonight.

On Sirius XM, Ch.157 ‘Counter Attack’ w/Meola & Dunseth were talking that sources inside Seattle management want to win this one more then the MLS Cup this season. I’m sure the folks in the MLS offices feel the same way. No non-Liga Mx team has won it since Saprissa in 2006. The Galaxy was the last MLS team (2000).

There is 67,000 expected in the loudest stadium arguably in the country (it has registered on the Richter Scale multiple occasions), has 2 away goals in the bank, and against an opponent that they can beat…Now is the time.

 

Congratulations to Seattle!

 

The highlights! Might the tide be turning a bit in this competition? Probably too early to say but, man, what an atmosphere at Lumen/CenturyLink/Qwest Field last night. It’s seems a different place when they fill the upper deck. Bigger props to Brian Schmetzer are way overdue. Since being promoted to replace Sigi Schmid in 2016, he’s pretty much had the Sounders in the hunt for MLS Cup almost every season. I may be overstating this, but I think American soccer took a step forward last night. The Galaxy won this tourney’s predecessor, the Champions Cup in 2000. The only other MLS club to win it was D.C. United in 1998.

 

What a great night for MLS. Always easy to criticize league decisions, but they hit the nail on the head when they decided to emphasize this competition.

Jordan Morris, Ruidiaz, & Lodeiro were fantastic throughout, the 2nd goal was a beauty. Morris ran at and behind Pumas all night. Stephen Frei making a case that he needs to be considered in the GK conversation w/the Nats.

The highlights do come up when you click the underlined Watch on YouTube on Jump’s post.

 

@SoCalJoe Frei was fantastic last night. The match was much closer if Frei was even just average.