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CONCACAF Champions League, Group Stage: Cruz Azul, Real Salt Lake Square Off Again

Oct 19, 2010, 7:09 AM UTC

As CONCACAF Champions League play enters the final round of the group stage, half of the teams are still awaiting their fates. Unfortunately five of those teams that have already advanced or been eliminated are playing Tuesday, meaning just one of the day’s matches involves two teams that are still playing for something.

All four teams from the Mexican Primera remain alive, while two of MLS's four remaining teams are already eliminated. Real Salt Lake is the only American side guaranteed of playing beyond this week.

Combined with the fact that MLS is entering its final week of the the regular season, this is probably the least exciting week of CCL.

At least there’s one match with a lot on the line that doesn’t even involve a MLS side.

Group B, Santos Laguna (10 points/5 games played/+7 goal-differential) vs. Municipal (8/5/+1), 8 p.m. Eastern: Los Guerreros came out of the shoots strong in both the Apertura and CCL, winning five of their first six in Mexico and going undefeated in their first three tournament matches. Although they've cooled off in both, they remain at top of Group B. A win would clinch the group, but Los Rojos could jump into the lead if they win. Municipal didn't win their first game until the fourth round of the group stage, but have won their last two. The first meeting between these two teams ended in a tie, but this will be in Santos' Estadio Corona where Los Guerreros have not lost since April.

Group A, Toronto FC (5/5/-3) vs. Aribe Unido (3/5/-9), 8 p.m.: Neither of these teams are going to advance and TFC has been reeling in MLS for a couple months now. This match is probably not worth paying much attention to.

Group C, Seattle Sounders (3/5/-4) vs. Saprissa (7/5/+3), 10 p.m.: The Sounders drew a tough schedule, playing three of their first four group stage matches on the road, with the one home match being against the group's top team. As a result, they flamed out early. Saprissa has not exactly been dominant, but has found a way to get enough results to be in a position to guarantee advancement with a victory. They should have their hands full, though, as Marathon found out in the last round. The Sounders are the hottest team in MLS and have proven to be dangerous even if they start mostly backups. This could be interesting

Group A, Real Salt Lake (10/5/+4) vs. Cruz Azul (10/5/+8), 10 p.m.: Both of these teams are already guaranteed to move on to the quarterfinals, but first place in the group is still in play and it would seem to be a valuable chip. The difference between winning the group and taking second could be the difference between playing a Mexican team or playing a team from a lesser league. This should be an interesting affair as the last time these two sides met, it ended 5-4 while being played in monsoon-like conditions. This game should be a much fairer representation of each teams skill, although plenty of reserves will likely get significant playing time.