The first moments of reckoning will arrive in the 2019 Concacaf Champions League this week, as the tournament’s eight round-of-16 matchups conclude with one final second-leg matchup.
The Houston Dynamo, New York Red Bulls and Atlanta United have already advanced to the quarterfinals, while Sporting Kansas City will be hoping to join them Thursday. Here’s a rundown of the matchups and scenarios, with the reminder that CCL uses the aggregate-goals format, with the away-goals tiebreaker in effect. Also keep in mind that if the teams are tied on both aggregate and away goals, the match will go straight to penalty kicks, without extra time. (All five matches broadcast live on YahooSports.com, Univision Deportes; see full CCL bracket here.)
Toluca vs. Sporting KC
Thursday, 10 pm ET, Estadio Nemesio Diez – 0-3 on aggregate
Leg 1 in Kansas City could hardly have gone any better for Sporting. Now they’ll need to artfully manage the proceedings in lofty Toluca, where an elevation of some 8,700 feet will strain their lungs and test their early-season fitness while fueling Los Diablos Rojos’ hopes of a thunderous remontada. The problems for Toluca: They were bossed in every category in the first leg, including possession, and a single SKC away goal will force them to win by a four-goal margin.
Scenarios: Sporting advance with any win, draw or loss by a margin of less than three goals, or a three-goal loss in which they score one away goal or more; Toluca advance with a win by a margin of four goals or greater. A 3-0 Toluca win leads to extra time/penalty kicks.
