CONCACAF Champions League, Preliminary Round 2nd Legs: Dallas, Santos, Seattle Headline Teams To Advance

Monaracas Morelia and Tempete had to play 90 minutes today by rule, but it was really unnecessary. Morelia won the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary tie 5-0 and were just out for a nice run in the park in the second leg. Tempete were completely outmatched in both legs and it was no surprise that Morelia’s backups cruised to a 2-0 victory in the second leg for a 7-0 aggregate win to book their spot in the group stage of the tournament.

Not only was Morelia never challenged in the slightest by a thoroughly outmatched Tempete side, but this second leg, which was Tempete’s home leg, had to be played in Mexico because the Haitian side doesn’t have a suitable stadium. Even as Tempete managed to keep Morelia from scoring in the opening half hour, they never really were even. They were defending for their lives and nothing they did could really be construed as an attack.

We’re just one more week of matches away from the meat of the 2011-2012 CONCACAF Champions League, the group stage. Before that can get underway though, eight more teams need to fill out the field for the group stage and that can only be done with the completion of the two-legged preliminary stage. 16 teams played their first legs a week ago and this week they’ll wrap up that stage of the competition with the second legs.

Unfortunately, most of the preliminary stage is already in the bag. Only three ties produced one-goal wins last week and one of those was a win for the away side so as we head to the second legs there isn’t a lot left to be determined. Many teams have all but booked their spot in the group stage and only one tie looks like it will result in an upset. The stage has been anything but dramatic.