| Tourney Name: | CONCACAF Champions League |
| Year: | 2013–14 |
| Dates: | August 6, 2013 – April 23, 2014 |
| Num Teams: | 24 |
| Associations: | 11 |
| Champion Other: |  Cruz Azul |
| Count: | 6 |
| Second Other: | Toluca |
| Matches: | 62 |
| Goals: | 151 |
| Top Scorer: | Raúl Nava (7 goals) |
| Player: |  Mariano Pavone |
| Goalkeeper: | Alfredo Talavera |
| Prevseason: | 2012–13 |
| Nextseason: | 2014–15 |
The 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League was the 6th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 49th edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Monterrey were the three-time defending champions, but were unable to defend their title as they failed to qualify for the tournament.
Cruz Azul won a record-setting sixth CONCACAF club title (and their first during the Champions League era), after winning an all-Mexican final over Toluca on away goals.[1] As a result, they qualified as the CONCACAF representative at the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup.[2]
Twenty-four teams participate in the CONCACAF Champions League: nine from the North American Zone, twelve from the Central American Zone, and three from the Caribbean Zone.
Clubs may be disqualified and replaced by a club from another association if the club does not have an available stadium that meets CONCACAF regulations for safety. If a club's own stadium fails to meet the set standards then it may find a suitable replacement stadium within its own country. However, if it is still determined that the club cannot provide the adequate facilities then it runs the risk of being replaced.
Nine teams from the North American Football Union qualify to the Champions League. Mexico and the United States are each allocated four spots, the most of any of the CONCACAF's member associations, while Canada is granted one spot in the tournament.
For Mexico, the winners of the Liga MX Apertura and Clausura tournaments earn berths in Pot A of the tournament's group stage, while the Apertura and Clausura runners-up earn berths in Pot B.
For the United States, three spots are allocated through the Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season and playoffs; the fourth spot is allocated to the winner of its domestic cup competition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The MLS Cup winner and the Supporters' Shield winner (if U.S.-based) are placed in Pot A; the MLS Cup runner-up (if U.S.-based) and the U.S. Open Cup winner are placed in Pot B. If any of the above spots are taken by a Canada-based MLS team, the Champions League place is allocated to the U.S.-based team with the best MLS regular season record who has failed to otherwise qualify.
For Canada, the winner of the domestic cup competition, the Voyageurs Cup competed for in the Canadian Championship, earns the lone Canadian berth into the tournament, in Pot B.
Twelve teams from the Central American Football Union qualify to the Champions League. The allocation is as follows: two teams from each of Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and El Salvador, and one team from each of Nicaragua and Belize.
For the Central American teams that qualify via split seasons, the aggregate record of the two tournaments within the season is used to determine which team gains the association's top spot. The pots of the teams are as follows:
If one or more clubs is precluded, it is supplanted by a club from another Central American association. The reallocation is based on results from previous Champions League tournaments.
Three teams from the Caribbean Football Union qualify to the Champions League. The three berths, in Pot C, are allocated to the top three finishers of the CFU Club Championship, a subcontinental tournament for clubs from associations of the Caribbean Football Union. In order for a team to qualify for the CFU Club Championship, they usually need to finish as the champion or runner-up of their respective association's league in the previous season, but professional teams may also be selected by their associations if they play in the league of another country.
If any Caribbean club is precluded, it is supplanted by the fourth-place finisher from the CFU Club Championship.
The following teams qualified for the tournament.
In the following table, the number of appearances, last appearance, and previous best result count only those in the CONCACAF Champions League era starting from 2008–09 (not counting those in the era of the Champions' Cup from 1962 to 2008).
| Association | Team | Pot | Qualifying method | App | Last App | Previous Best | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America (9 teams) | |||||||
| Mexico | Tijuana | A | 2012 Apertura champions | 1st | N/A | N/A | |
| Toluca | B | 2012 Apertura runners-up | 3rd | Semifinals | |||
| América | A | 2013 Clausura champions | 1st | N/A | N/A | ||
| Cruz Azul | B | 2013 Clausura runners-up | 4th | Runner-up | |||
 United States | LA Galaxy | A | 2012 MLS Cup champions | 4th | Semifinals | ||
| San Jose Earthquakes | A | 2012 MLS Supporters' Shield champions | 1st | N/A | N/A | ||
| Houston Dynamo | B | 2012 MLS Cup runners-up | 4th | Quarterfinals | |||
| Sporting Kansas City | B | 2012 U.S. Open Cup champions | 1st | N/A | N/A | ||
 Canada | Montreal Impact | B | 2013 Canadian Championship champions | 2nd | Quarterfinals | ||
| Central America (12 teams) | |||||||
| Costa Rica | Alajuelense | B | 2012 Invierno champions | 4th | Group stage | ||
| Herediano | A | 2013 Verano champions | 4th | Quarterfinals | |||
| Cartaginés | C | 2013 Verano runners-up | 1st | N/A | N/A | ||
| Honduras | Olimpia | A | 2012 Apertura and 2013 Clausura champions | 6th | Quarterfinals | ||
| Victoria | B | Runners-up with better aggregate record in 2012–13 season | 1st | N/A | N/A | ||
| Guatemala | Comunicaciones | A | 2012 Apertura and 2013 Clausura champions | 3rd | Quarterfinals | ||
| Heredia | C | Runners-up with better aggregate record in 2012–13 season | 1st | N/A | N/A | ||
 Panama | Árabe Unido | A | 2012 Apertura champions | 3rd | Quarterfinals | ||
| Sporting San Miguelito | C | 2013 Clausura champions | 1st | N/A | N/A | ||
 El Salvador | Isidro Metapán | B | 2012 Apertura champions | 6th | Quarterfinals | ||
| Luis Ángel Firpo | C | 2013 Clausura champions | 3rd | Group stage | |||
| Nicaragua | Real Estelí | C | 2012 Apertura and 2013 Clausura champions | 4th | Group stage | ||
| Caribbean (3 teams) | |||||||
| Trinidad and Tobago | W Connection | C | 2013 CFU Club Championship Group 1 winners | 3rd | Group stage | ||
| Caledonia AIA | C | 2013 CFU Club Championship Playoff round winners | 2nd | Group stage | |||
| Haiti | Valencia | C | 2013 CFU Club Championship Group 2 winners | 1st | N/A | N/A | |
The draw for the group stage was held on June 3, 2013 at Doral, Florida, United States.[3] [4]
The 24 teams were drawn into eight groups of three, with each group containing one team from each of the three pots. The allocation of teams into pots was based on their national association and qualifying berth. Teams from the same association (excluding "wildcard" teams which replace a team from another association) could not be drawn with each other in the group stage, and each group was guaranteed to contain a team from either the United States or Mexico, meaning U.S. and Mexican teams could not play each other in the group stage.[5]
| Pot A | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=190 | Tijuana | width=190 | América | width=190 | LA Galaxy | width=190 | San Jose Earthquakes |
| Herediano | Olimpia | Comunicaciones | Árabe Unido | ||||
| Pot B | |||||||
| Toluca | Cruz Azul | Houston Dynamo | Sporting Kansas City | ||||
| Alajuelense | Victoria | Isidro Metapán | Montreal Impact | ||||
| Pot C | |||||||
| Heredia | Luis Ángel Firpo | Sporting San Miguelito | Real Estelí | ||||
| Cartaginés | W Connection | Valencia | Caledonia AIA | ||||
The schedule of the competition was as follows.[6] [7]
| Round | First leg | Second leg | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | August 6–8, 2013 | |
| Matchday 2 | August 20–22, 2013 | ||
| Matchday 3 | August 27–29, 2013 | ||
| Matchday 4 | September 17–19, 2013 | ||
| Matchday 5 | September 24–26, 2013 | ||
| Matchday 6 | October 22–24, 2013 | ||
| Championship stage | Quarterfinals | March 10–12, 2014 | March 18–20, 2014 |
| Semifinals | April 1, 2014 | April 8–9, 2014 | |
| Final | April 15, 2014 | April 23, 2014 | |
See main article: article and 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League group stage.
In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners of each group advanced to the championship stage.
See main article: article and 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League championship stage.
In the championship stage, the eight teams played a single-elimination tournament. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule was used if the aggregate score was level after normal time of the second leg, but not after extra time, and so a tie was decided by penalty shoot-out if the aggregate score was level after extra time of the second leg.[2]
See main article: article and 2014 CONCACAF Champions League final.
| CONCACAF Champions League 2013–14 champion | |
|---|---|
| |
| Cruz Azul Sixth title |
| Award | Player | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Ball[8] | Mariano Pavone | Cruz Azul | |
| Golden Boot[9] | Raúl Nava | Toluca | |
| Golden Glove[10] | Alfredo Talavera | Toluca | |
| Fair Play Award[11] | — | LA Galaxy |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raúl Nava | Toluca | 7 | ||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 2 | Nicolás Muñoz | Isidro Metapán | align=center rowspan=2 | 5 |
| Mariano Pavone | Cruz Azul | ||||
| align=center rowspan=3 | 4 | Édgar Benítez | Toluca | align=center rowspan=3 | 4 |
 Achille Emaná | Cruz Azul | ||||
 Robbie Keane | Los Angeles Galaxy | ||||
| align=center rowspan=5 | 7 | Herculez Gomez | Tijuana Xolos | align=center rowspan=5 | 3 |
| Pablo Herrera | Cartaginés | ||||
| Jerry Palacios | Alajuelense | ||||
| Anllel Porras | Herediano | ||||
| Paolo Suárez | Comunicaciones |