León at Seattle highlights ConcaChampions quarters

The first legs of the Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals kick off tonight in New York City when NYCFC welcomes Guatemala’s Comunicaciones to Pratt & Whitney Stadium in Hartford, Connecticut.

That will be followed by the most-anticipated quarterfinals clash – a rematch of last year’s thrilling Nations Cup final in which Liga MX club León defeated MLS giant Seattle Sounders 3-2.

The other two quarterfinals will start on Wednesday with two additional Liga MX vs MLS battles: UNAM at New England Revolution and CF Montreal at Cruz Azul.

The return legs of all four CCL quarterfinals are scheduled for next week.

Liga MX, MLS bragging rights at stake

NYCFC will be heavily favored to defeated Comunicaciones but few people figured the Guatemalan club would get past MLS club Colorado Rapids, especially when the return leg was played in a snow storm. “Los Cremas” held their own, advancing in a penalty kick shoot-out.

The reigning MLS champs reached the Elite Eight by smashing an overmatched Santos de Guápiles (Costa Rica) on a 6-0 aggregate.

The Tuesday nightcap should be a thriller as León and Seattle play attacking football, the Esmeraldas of Liga MX with a smooth, ball-control style and the two-time MLS champions with a swift counter-attacking style. The Sounders will be short-handed, however, as star striker Raúl Ruidiaz – a two-time Liga MX scoring king – will miss the first leg with a hamstring strain.

León has been erratic in front of goal in league play – 9 goals in nine games – but a stingy defense has them in fourth place. The Sounders are winless in the nascent MLS season (0-0-2) but will be eager to play well in front of their usually raucous home fans.

Wednesday’s two matches will further stoke the MLS-Liga MX rivalry which has been dominated by the Mexican league in CCL (Liga MX teams have won the past 16 ConcaChampions tournaments).

CF Montreal eliminated a Liga MX team (Santos Laguna) in the Round of 16 but must travel to Mexico City to face Cruz Azul. While the Canadian side has struggled out of the gate of the MLS season (0-0-2, 1 goal, 4 goals against), Cruz Azul is in fifth place in Liga MX though the Cementeros are winless in their past three games.

The other quarterfinal promises to be a dandy as an overachieving UNAM (eighth place) is eager to end its silverware drought and will look at the Revolution as simply an obstacle. The Pumas won’t take New England lightly (coach Andrés Lillini has the “Los Felinos” playing a tenacious, take-no-prisoners style), but they won’t be intimidated by the Bostonians.

Bruce Arena – no stranger to playing against Mexican teams – has New England in fifth place in the MLS Eastern Conference with a 1-1-0 record. Goalie Matt Turner, striker Jozy Altidore and midfielder Sebastián Lletget are Team USA stalwarts who would love nothing more than to knock a Liga MX team out of the CCL.