2020 CONCACAF Champions League Final

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2020 CONCACAF Champions League Final
Orlando City Stadium (04-21-18) 1.jpg
Exploria Stadium in Orlando hosted the match.
Event 2020 CONCACAF Champions League
UANL Los Angeles FC
Mexico United States
2 1
Date December 22, 2020 (2020-12-22)
Venue Exploria Stadium, Orlando, Florida, United States
Man of the Match Luis Rodríguez (UANL)
Referee Mario Escobar (Guatemala)[1]
Attendance 0 (behind closed doors)
Weather Clear
52 °F (11 °C)
← 2019
2021 →

The 2020 CONCACAF Champions League Final was the final match of the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League, the 12th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 55th edition of the premier association football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the final was switched from a two-legged series at the finalists home grounds to a single match at the predetermined neutral venue, making it the first final since the 2002 CONCACAF Champions' Cup to be contested over a single leg. The match, originally scheduled for April 28–30, 2020 for the first leg and May 5–7, 2020 for the second leg, was postponed to December 22, 2020. The match was played at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida, United States, between Tigres UANL and Los Angeles FC.

UANL won their first CONCACAF Champions League title and qualified for the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar.

Teams

In the following table, final until 2008 were in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup era, since 2009 were in the CONCACAF Champions League era.

Team Zone Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners)
Mexico UANL North America (NAFU) 3 (2016, 2017, 2019)
United States Los Angeles FC North America (NAFU) 0 (debut)

Venue

File:Orlando city soccer stadium.jpg
Exploria Stadium in Orlando, United States hosted the final.

In October 2020, it was reported that CONCACAF would resume the tournament at a neutral location either in Mexico or in the U.S. states of California, Florida, or Texas during the third or fourth week of December over the span of the week.[2] On November 2, 2020, CONCACAF announced that the tournament would resume at a centralized location in the United States from December 15 to 22, 2020, with the remaining quarter-finals, single-leg semi-finals and final.[3] Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida, home of Major League Soccer club Orlando City SC, was designated as the host for the remainder of the tournament.[3]

Background

Lua error in Module:Details at line 30: attempt to call field '_formatLink' (a nil value). The CONCACAF Champions League was established in 2008 as the continental championship for football clubs in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, succeeding the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. During its first nine editions, the Champions League consisted of a group stage in summer and autumn followed by a knockout stage during the following spring.[4] Beginning with the 2018 edition of the tournament, the group stage was re-formed as the CONCACAF League and limited to Central American and Caribbean teams. The Champions League was shortened to a two-month knockout tournament between teams from North American and major Central American nations, as well as the winner of the CONCACAF League.[5] The knockout tournament falls within the beginning of Major League Soccer's season, which operates on a summer schedule unlike other football leagues.[6]

The 2020 edition of the Champions League was greatly altered to the COVID-19 pandemic. The round of 16 began on time with series played in late February 2020. The first legs of the quarter-finals began as scheduled on March 10, with three of the four quarter-final first legs played. On March 12, 2020, CONCACAF suspended all competitions due to rising concerns around the pandemic.[7] The tournament was indefinitely postponed with no announcements on the resumption of the tournament from CONCACAF until August 2020, with the organization stating there were plans to resume the tournament at a neutral venue at the end of the year. In November 2020 this was confirmed with the tournament resuming behind closed doors, with the semi-finals onward consisting of a single leg.[8]

Road to the final

Lua error in Module:Details at line 30: attempt to call field '_formatLink' (a nil value).Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: Home; A: Away; N: Neutral).

Mexico UANL Round United States Los Angeles FC
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
El Salvador Alianza 5–4 1–2 (A) 4–2 (H) Round of 16 Mexico León 3–2 0–2 (A) 3–0 (H)
United States New York City FC 5–0 1–0 (A) 4–0 (H) Quarter-finals

Mexico Cruz Azul

 2–1 (N)
Honduras Olimpia 3–0 (N) Semi-finals

Mexico América

 3–1 (N)

Note: Even though UANL was considered the "home" team for their second leg quarter-final match against New York City FC (with away goals applying), the match was played in Orlando behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tigres UANL

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Main article: 2019–20 Tigres UANL season

Los Angeles FC

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Main article: 2020 Los Angeles FC season

Los Angeles FC were making their first ever appearance in the CONCACAF Champions League Final. They were also the first MLS team since Toronto FC's 2018 Champions League run to reach the final, and the first American team to reach the final since Real Salt Lake did so in 2011. En route to the final, LAFC eliminated three Liga MX teams, the most ever by an American or MLS club.[9] LAFC qualified for the Champions League by winning the Supporters' Shield for having the best regular season record during the 2019 Major League Soccer season, accumulating 72 points in 34 matches, the best record by a Supporters' Shield winner since their local rivals, LA Galaxy in 1998.

LAFC opened their Champions League campaign on February 18, 2020, against León at Estadio León. León bested LAFC 2–0 with goals coming from Jean Meneses and Ángel Mena in the first and second halves, respectively. LAFC hosted León on February 25, and overcame the two-goal deficit and won the match 3–0, and the series on aggregate 3–2, making the first time in the Champions League era, an American team overcame a multi-goal deficit to defeat a Mexican team.[10]

LAFC were slated to continue the tournament by hosting Cruz Azul in the quarter-finals, with the first leg being held on March 12, 2020. The match was the last scheduled quarter-final match of the week, with the other three fixtures being played on March 10 and 11. However, with rising concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic in North America, CONCACAF postponed the match, and the entire tournament.

Format

The final was played in a single match at a neutral venue, instead of the typical home-and-away two-legged series. If the match was tied after regulation, extra time was played. If the score was still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner.[11]

Match

Details

December 22, 2020 (2020-12-22)
22:00 EST
UANL Mexico 2–1 United States Los Angeles FC
https://www.concacaf.com/en/champions-league/game-details?matchid=510696
UANL
Los Angeles FC
GK 1 Argentina Nahuel Guzmán
RB 28 Mexico Luis Rodríguez
CB 4 Mexico Hugo Ayala Substituted off 74'
CB 3 Mexico Carlos Salcedo
LB 29 Mexico Jesús Dueñas Substituted off 71'
RM 23 Colombia Luis Quiñones Substituted off 87'
CM 19 Argentina Guido Pizarro (c)
CM 5 Brazil Rafael Carioca
LM 20 Mexico Javier Aquino Substituted off 88'
CF 17 Uruguay Leonardo Fernández Substituted off 71'
CF 10 France André-Pierre Gignac
Substitutes:
GK 40 Mexico Carlos Galindo
GK 50 Mexico Arturo Covarrubias
DF 14 Mexico Juan Sánchez
DF 13 Mexico Diego Reyes
DF 15 Mexico Francisco Venegas Substituted in 87'
DF 21 Colombia Francisco Meza Substituted in 74'
DF 36 Mexico Eduardo Tercero Substituted in 88'
MF 22 Mexico Raymundo Fulgencio Substituted in 71'
MF 43 Mexico Erick Ávalos
MF 47 Mexico Jesús García
FW 51 Mexico Adrián Garza del Toro
FW 11 Uruguay Nicolás López Substituted in 71'
Manager:
Brazil Ricardo Ferretti
416x416px
GK 1 Netherlands Kenneth Vermeer
RB 27 United States Tristan Blackmon
CB 94 Colombia Jesús Murillo Substituted off 88'
CB 4 Colombia Eddie Segura
LB 12 Ecuador Diego Palacios
RM 7 Ghana Latif Blessing
CM 14 Canada Mark-Anthony Kaye
LM 11 Ecuador José Cifuentes Substituted off 67'
RF 10 Mexico Carlos Vela (c)
CF 16 United States Danny Musovski Substituted off 46'
LF 9 Uruguay Diego Rossi
Substitutes:
GK 23 Mexico Pablo Sisniega
GK 40 United States Phillip Ejimadu
DF 2 United States Jordan Harvey
DF 5 Canada Dejan Jakovic
DF 13 Libya Mohamed El Monir
DF 28 United States Tony Leone
MF 8 Uruguay Francisco Ginella Substituted in 67'
MF 17 Uruguay Brian Rodríguez Substituted in 88'
MF 18 United States Erik Dueñas
MF 19 United States Bryce Duke
FW 21 United States Christian Torres
FW 22 Ghana Kwadwo Opoku Substituted in 46'
Manager:
United States Bob Bradley

Man of the Match:

Mexico Luis Rodríguez (UANL)

Assistant referees:[1]
Humberto Panjoj (Guatemala)
Gerson López (Guatemala)
Fourth official:[1]
Daneon Parchment (Jamaica)
Reserve assistant referee:[1]
Nicholas Anderson (Jamaica)

Match rules[12]

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if tied.
  • Penalty shoot-out if still tied after extra time.
  • Twelve named substitutes, of which up to five may be used, with a sixth allowed in extra time.[note 2]

Statistics

Statistic[13] UANL Los Angeles FC
Goals scored 2 1
Total shots 10 8
Shots on target 5 3
Saves 0 2
Ball possession 55% 45%
Corner kicks 4 4
Fouls committed 18 23
Offsides 7 2
Yellow cards 0 0
Red cards 0 0

Post-match

As winners of the Champions League, UANL qualified for the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar, which was held in February 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They beat Asian champions Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea, and South American champions Palmeiras of Brazil, becoming the first ever CONCACAF team to reach the final; they would lose the decisive match to European champions Bayern Munich of Germany.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The match was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North America.[3]
  2. ↑ Each team was only given three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time.

References

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  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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