The Vancouver Whitecaps will make their CONCACAF Champions League debut on Wednesday night when they host the Seattle Sounders in their opening group stage match.
Here’s what you need to know about the game.
Wednesday programming alert: Watch Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Seattle Sounders on Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet World at 10:00 pm ET. || Sportsnet NOW || Broadcast schedule
How the tournament works
The CONCACAF Champions League brings together the best clubs from across North and Central America, and the Caribbean. Club America of Mexico is the defending champion, having defeated the Montreal Impact in last season’s final.
The 24-team field is divided into eight round-robin groups of three teams. Everybody plays each other home and away. Each of the eight group winners advance to the quarterfinals where teams will then square off in a series of two-legged affairs. Both the semifinals and the final are also two legs.
The winner of the CONCACAF Champions League advances to the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup to be hosted in Japan, where they compete against the top pro teams from Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, and South America. Real Madrid are the reigning Club World Cup champions.
First time out for Whitecaps
Vancouver will be making its CONCACAF Champions League debut this season.
The Whitecaps qualified for this year’s tournament by finishing as the top Canadian team in the MLS standings in 2014. Previously, the winner of the Amway Canadian Championship earned Canada’s lone berth in the competition.
Vancouver will compete in Group F alongside MLS rivals Seattle and Olimpia of Honduras.
Even though this is Vancouver’s first time out, they do have players with previous Champions League experience: right fullback Steven Beitashour (with San Jose Earthquakes), centre backs Pa-Modou Kah (Portland Timbers) and Kendall Waston (Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica) and midfielder Mauro Rosales (Seattle).
Busy month for Vancouver
Wednesday’s game will be the second of an eight-match slate this month for the Whitecaps, who will have to balance MLS with their CONCACAF Champions League commitments and the two-legged final of the Amway Canadian Championship against the Montreal Impact.
As a result, you can expect Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson to rotate his squad.
“You’ve seen our depth tested all year, so this one game is not going to be anything different,” Beitashour told reporters this week. “I keep saying it and I’ll say it again, you’ve got to give credit to (Carl Robinson) and his staff bringing in the type of players that they do, because we’ve probably got the most depth out of any team I’ve seen and definitely been a part of.
The crazy part is we’re really young, so it’s great to see guys are confident, guys are eager to play and you’ll see that eagerness on Wednesday.”
Midfielder Marco Bustos, a 19-year-old Winnipeg native, and defender Sam Adekugbe, a 20-year-old from Calgary, will likely see action for the Whitecaps on Wednesday.
Test of Vancouver’s depth
Sporsnet reporter Irfaan Gaffar spoke to soccer commentator Paul Dolan for his take on Wednesday’s match:
Hot rivalry
These teams are bitter rivals dating back to their days together in the old North American Soccer League.
The feud has continued in MLS, with the Whitecaps winning the last match, a 3-0 decision in Seattle over the weekend.
The Sounders didn’t appreciate the fact that the Whitecaps posed for photos with their fans after the game, with Seattle coach coach Sigi Schmid saying he felt that gesture showed disrespect.
“They can take it as an insult if they want, but it just shows them how good of a team they are, that we want to celebrate after we beat them,” Whitecaps midfielder Russell Teibert said.
“I wouldn’t take it as an insult if I was them. We tip our hats off to them, because they’re a great team.”
Head to head
The all-time MLS series between Vancouver and Seattle is tied at four wins apiece and four draws in 12 meetings.
These teams will meet again in the Champions League on Sept. 23 in Seattle. Four days earlier they’ll square off in their final MLS meeting of the season in Vancouver.
Next up for Vancouver
The Whitecaps return to MLS action on Saturday when they host Real Salt Lake. Vancouver then travels to Montreal to take on the Impact next Wednesday in the first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final.
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