They're Back

The four home-and-home aggregate quarterfinals for the CONCACAF Champions League begin tonight, with an all-MLS clash between the Columbus Crew and Real Salt Lake at Crew Stadium. In a strange quirk of the draw, the two MLS teams play each other and the four Mexican teams also play each other. Furthermore, the winners of the two all-Mexico quarterfinals will play each other in the semifinals, guaranteeing that the final will be a Mexican team against a non-Mexican team.
The winner of the aggregate battle between the Crew and RSL will take on the winner of Olimpia of Honduras and Saprissa of Costa Rica in the semifinals. In the all-Mexico bracket, Cruz Azul takes on Santos Laguna of Torreon in one quarterfinal, and Toluca battles current Mexican champion Monterrey. Cruz Azul and Santos Laguna meet at Estadio Azul tonight, while Monterrey travels to Estadio Nemesio Diez in Toluca tomorrow night. Finally, Olimpia visits Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Ayma on Thursday night, which may be the hardest stadium south of Estadio Azteca for the road team to win. Both of the MLS games will be broadcast in Spanish on Galavision, which I have, and Tuesday is my night off of work, so I will be watching both tonight and the second leg in Salt Lake City on Tuesday March 1.

My bets are on the Mexican League finalists Santos Laguna and Monterrey to win their quarterfinals, and Saprissa to win the other. No call on The Crew vs RSL.