2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League

2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League

Estadio Hidalgo in Pachuca hosted the second leg Final
Tournament details
Dates	July 28, 2009 – April 28, 2010
Teams	24 (from 10 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Pachuca (4th title)
Runners-up	Cruz Azul
Tournament statistics
Matches played	78
Goals scored	242 (3.1 per match)
Attendance	530,883 (6,806 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Ulises Mendivil (9 goals)
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

The 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League was the second edition of the CONCACAF Champions League.Under its current format, and overall, it was the 45th edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, 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.^[1] All four Mexican teams topped their groups and reached the semi-finals, with Pachuca winning the final against Cruz Azul with a 2–2 aggregate score, via the away goals rule. As winners, Pachuca qualified for the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup as the CONCACAF representative. Atlante are the defending champions, but failed to qualify and cannot defend titles.^[2]

Mexico City

Pachuca

Toluca

Houston
Dynamo

D.C. United

Columbus Crew

Saprissa

San Pedro Sula

Árabe Unido

Comunicaciones

Metapán

Puerto Rico Islanders

Trinidad and Tobago

Mexico City teams
Cruz Azul
UNAM

San Pedro Sula teams
Marathon
Real España

Trinidad and Tobago teams
San Juan Jabloteh
W Connection

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Location of teams of the 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League
Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D.

24 teams participated in the 2009–10 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

• 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.
• Caribbean: If any Caribbean club is precluded, it will be 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.^[5]

It was announced on May 12, 2009, that Belize had lost their lone qualification to Honduras due to the inability of the Belize federation to meet CONCACAF's minimum requirements in regard to stadium facilities.^[6] 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 of Nicaragua did not have a suitable venue to host a CONCACAF club match.^[7] 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.^[8] 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 in bold qualify directly for the group stage.

Association	Club	Qualifying method
North America (9 teams)
Mexico 4 berths	Toluca	2008 Apertura champions
	UNAM	2009 Clausura champions
	Cruz Azul	2008 Apertura runners-up
	Pachuca	2009 Clausura runners-up
United States 4 berths	Columbus Crew	2008 MLS Cup and 2008 MLS Supporters' Shield winner
	Houston Dynamo	2008 MLS Supporters' Shield runners-up1
	New York Red Bulls	2008 MLS Cup runners-up
	D.C. United	2008 U.S. Open Cup champions
Canada 1 berth	Toronto FC	2009 Canadian Championship winner
Central America (12 teams)
Costa Rica 3 berths	Saprissa	2008 Invierno champions
	Liberia Mía	2009 Verano champions
	Herediano	2009 Verano runners-up2
Honduras 3 berths	Marathón	2008 Apertura champions
	Olimpia	2009 Clausura champions
	Real España	2008 Apertura and 2009 Clausura runners-up3
Guatemala 2 berths	Comunicaciones	2008 Apertura champions
	Jalapa	2009 Clausura champions
El Salvador 2 berths	Isidro Metapán	2008 Apertura and 2009 Clausura champions
	Luis Ángel Firpo	2009 Clausura runners-up4
Panama 2 berths	Árabe Unido	2008 Clausura champions
	San Francisco	2009 Apertura champions
Caribbean (3 teams)
Trinidad and Tobago	W Connection	2009 CFU Club Championship champions
	San Juan Jabloteh	2009 CFU Club Championship third place
Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico Islanders	2009 CFU Club Championship runners-up

¹ Columbus Crew were both the 2008 MLS Supporters' Shield and 2008 MLS Cup 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 (Real Estelí), was rescinded after a failed stadium inspection by CONCACAF officials. The berth was awarded to Costa Rica.

³ Berth originally awarded to Belize (Belize Defence Force), 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.

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 rule will be used but will not apply once a tie enters extra time.^[9]

Group Stage
Pot A	Toluca	UNAM	Columbus Crew	Houston Dynamo
Pot B	Saprissa	Marathón	Comunicaciones	Isidro Metapán
Preliminary round
Pot A	Cruz Azul	Pachuca	New York Red Bulls	D.C. United
	Liberia Mía	Olimpia	San Francisco	Toronto FC
Pot B	Real España	Luis Ángel Firpo	Jalapa	Árabe Unido
	Herediano	W Connection	Puerto Rico Islanders	San Juan Jabloteh

The draw for the preliminary round was held on June 11, 2009, at the CONCACAF headquarters in New York City.^[10][11] 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.^[1] The preliminary round schedule was announced on June 16, five days after the draw.^[12]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
San Francisco	2–3	San Juan Jabloteh	2–0	0–3
Pachuca	10–1	Jalapa	3–0	7–1
W Connection	4–3	New York Red Bulls	2–2	2–1
Olimpia	2–2 (a)	Árabe Unido	2–1	0–1
Herediano	2–6	Cruz Azul	2–6	0–0
D.C. United	2–2 (5–4 p)	Luis Ángel Firpo	1–1	1–1 (aet)
Liberia Mía	3–6	Real España	3–0	0–6
Toronto FC	0–1	Puerto Rico Islanders	0–1	0–0

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.^[13]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Pachuca 6 5 0 1 15 4 +11 15 Árabe Unido 6 3 1 2 13 9 +4 10 Houston Dynamo 6 2 1 3 9 8 +1 7 Isidro Metapán 6 1 0 5 3 19 −16 3

ARA HOU MET PAC Árabe Unido – 1–1 6–0 4–1 Houston Dynamo 5–1 – 1–0 0–1 Isidro Metapán 0–1 3–2 – 0–4 Pachuca 2–0 2–0 5–0 –

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Toluca 6 4 1 1 15 4 +11 13 Marathón 6 4 0 2 12 14 −2 12 D.C. United 6 3 1 2 12 8 +4 10 San Juan Jabloteh 6 0 0 6 4 17 −13 0

DCU MAR SJJ TOL D.C. United – 3–0 5–1 1–3 Marathón 3–1 – 3–1 2–0 San Juan Jabloteh 0–1 2–4 – 0–1 Toluca 1–1 7–0 3–0 –

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Cruz Azul 6 5 1 0 16 4 +12 16 Columbus Crew 6 2 2 2 5 9 −4 8 Saprissa 6 1 2 3 6 8 −2 5 Puerto Rico Islanders 6 0 3 3 6 12 −6 3

CLB CRU PRI SAP Columbus Crew – 0–2 2–0 1–1 Cruz Azul 5–0 – 2–0 2–0 P. R. Islanders 1–1 3–3 – 1–1 Saprissa 0–1 1–2 3–1 –

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts UNAM 6 4 1 1 15 6 +9 13 Comunicaciones 6 3 0 3 6 8 −2 9 W Connection 6 2 1 3 10 9 +1 7 Real España 6 2 0 4 6 14 −8 6

COM RES UNAM WCO Comunicaciones – 2–0 2–1 0–3 Real España 2–0 – 1–5 1–0 UNAM 1–0 4–0 – 2–1 W Connection 1–2 3–2 2–2 –

The championship round draw was conducted on November 17.^[14]

	Quarterfinals						Semifinals						Finals
	Marathón	2	1	3
	UNAM	0	6	6
							UNAM	1	0	1
							Cruz Azul	0	5	5
	Árabe Unido	0	0	0
	Cruz Azul	1	3	4
													Cruz Azul	2	0	2
													Pachuca (a)	1	1	2
	Columbus Crew	2	2	4
	Toluca	2	3	5
							Toluca	1	0	1
							Pachuca	1	1	2
	Comunicaciones	1	1	2
	Pachuca	1	2	3

Each of the Championship rounds will be played over two legs.^[1]

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.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Comunicaciones	2–3	Pachuca	1–1	1–2
Columbus Crew	4–5	Toluca	2–2	2–3
Marathón	3–6	UNAM	2–0	1–6
Árabe Unido	0–4	Cruz Azul	0–1	0–3

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.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
UNAM	1–5	Cruz Azul	1–0	0–5
Toluca	1–2	Pachuca	1–1	0–1

The first leg of the final was played on April 21, 2010, while the second leg was played on April 28, 2010.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Cruz Azul	2–2 (a)	Pachuca	2–1	0–1

CONCACAF Champions League 2009–10 champion
Pachuca Fourth title

Rank	Name	Club	Goals
1	Ulises Mendivil	Pachuca	9
2	Orlando Rodríguez	Árabe Unido	8
3	Javier Orozco	Cruz Azul	5
	Jonathan Faña	W Connection
	Carlos Pavón	Real España
	Rolando Fonseca	Comunicaciones
	Pablo Zeballos	Cruz Azul
	Edgar Benítez	Pachuca
9	Paul Aguilar	Pachuca	4
	Douglas Caetano	Real España
	Christian Gómez	D.C. United
	Francisco Palencia	UNAM