User:Bmf 051/sandbox/2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League

The CONCACAF Champions League was an annual continental club football competition. The following is a proposed redesign for the current tournament, based on the UEFA Champions League. It is unlikely that such a design would work in reality, because many of the Caribbean Football Union associations could not be relied upon to provide teams on a regular basis (see the low participation for some nations in CFU Club Championship). Also, many associations do not have stadiums that meet FIFA and CONCACAF requirements for hosting matches in a tournament such as this. But this is just an idea.

The tournament would consist of a qualification round and a play-off round, with 10 surviving teams entering the group stage, joining 22 teams that qualify automatically. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams and play each other in a double round-robin system. The eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the two-legged final.

Herediano were the defending champions. They successfully defended their title, defeating Santos Laguna 5–1 on aggregate in the final.

Format changes
Here is a list of changes I've made from the previous tournament. Many of these changes were made to make matches in the group stage and later rounds more competitive:
 * The title holder will be allocated a berth in the group stage without replacing another team that would normally earn a berth in the group stage. In the previous tournament, Cruz Azul were placed in the group stage at the expense of América, who were moved to the play-off round, where they ultimately lost.
 * The CONCACAF SuperLiga title holders will also earn an automatic berth in the tournament, entering no later than the play-off round.
 * Six associations (instead of 3) will earn two berths. For this tournament, these extra berth will go to the 11th, 12th, and 13th ranked association. With this and the SuperLiga champions' berth, this will increase the number of qualifying teams from 61 (or 62) to 64 (or 65 or 66).
 * The number of teams entering at the group stage will be increased from 16 (11 champions and 5 non-champions) to 22 (9 champions, 12 non-champions, and the title holders).
 * A second qualification round for champions will be added.
 * As part of a change to the CONCACAF SuperLiga which will give domestic cup winners an automatic berth in that tournament, the domestic cup winners from the United States and Canada will no longer receive automatic berths in the CONCACAF Champions League. This proved to be a moot point, because the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup winners (Seattle Sounders) qualified for the Champions League via their league performance, and the 2015 Canadian Championship was moved from just before the start of the Champions League until just after the start, meaning the Canadian Champions will not be decided in time for either tournament.
 * While Canadian teams will still be ineligible for the spots earned by American teams in MLS, should a Canadian team finish in a qualifying spot that would earn an American team qualification to either tournament, that spot will be vacated in favor of an American team (as was done in past tournaments) and that Canadian team will be given a supplemental bid in the same round of the same tournament (new for this tournament). If a Canadian team qualifies for more than one spot (either by having the best record among Canadian MLS teams, winning the Canadian Championship, or by earning a supplemental bid), they will vacate all but one of those bids. Any vacated supplemental Canadian bids will not be filled by other teams, and any other vacated Canadian bids will only be filled if needed to ensure Canada gets at least two bids (the number normally allocated to them). Under these new rules, Canada could potentially earn more than two bids (including multiple Champions League bids) under certain circumstances.
 * The number of teams entering the CONCACAF SuperLiga after being eliminated will be reduced. Previously, any team eliminated from the Champions League before the knockout stage entered the SuperLiga (44 teams total). Now, only teams losing in the second qualifying round and play-off round, and the third-placed teams from the group stage will enter the SuperLiga (30 teams total), but teams losing in the first qualifying round and fourth-placed teams from the group stage (as well as teams that reach the knockout round) will not.
 * The maximum number of combined bids in both tournaments that an association can earn will be set at 2 for every 3 teams at the highest level of that association's league system. This is on top of any existing restrictions on the number bids an association may earn. In the Champions League, each association will still earn no more than 1 bid for every 3 teams at the highest level of its league system (or the number of bids allocated to that association based on its association ranking, which ever is less). In the SuperLiga, the maximum number of bids will still be 3. These restrictions do not apply to title holder bids, fair play bids, supplemental bids, or SuperLiga bids given to teams that are eliminated from the Champions League.


 * This new restriction means that Canada will now earn 1 bid in the SuperLiga, instead of 3. The table below gives the number of bids an association may earn in each tournament based on the number of teams at the highest level of that association's league system.


 * {| class="wikitable"

!Number of teams !CCL bids !CC bids !Total bids
 * align=center|1 or 2
 * rowspan=3 align=center|1
 * align=center|0
 * align=center|1
 * align=center|3 or 4
 * align=center|1
 * align=center|2
 * align=center|5
 * align=center|2
 * align=center|3
 * align=center|6 or 7
 * rowspan=2 align=center|max of 2
 * align=center|max of 3
 * align=center|4
 * align=center|8
 * rowspan=4 align=center|3
 * align=center|max of 5
 * align=center|9 to 11
 * align=center|max of 3
 * align=center|max of 6
 * align=center|12 to 14
 * align=center|max of 4
 * align=center|max of 7
 * align=center|15 or more
 * align=center|max of 5
 * align=center|max of 8
 * colspan=4 align=center|Note: Actual number of bids depends on an association's ranking.
 * }
 * align=center|max of 4
 * align=center|max of 7
 * align=center|15 or more
 * align=center|max of 5
 * align=center|max of 8
 * colspan=4 align=center|Note: Actual number of bids depends on an association's ranking.
 * }
 * colspan=4 align=center|Note: Actual number of bids depends on an association's ranking.
 * }

Qualification
The CONCACAF Champions League commenced with a double round-robin group stage of 32 teams, which was preceded by two qualification 'streams' for teams that do not receive direct entry to the tournament proper. The two streams are divided between teams qualified by virtue of being league champions, and those qualified by virtue of finishing 2nd–5th in their national championship.

The number of teams that each association enters into the CONCACAF Champions League was based upon the CONCACAF country coefficients. These coefficients are generated by the results of clubs representing each association during the previous five Champions League seasons. The higher an association's coefficient, the more teams represent the association in the Champions League, and the fewer qualification rounds the association's teams must compete in. However, associations are limited to 1 entrant for every 3 teams at the highest level of that associations league system. Teams qualified based on the results of tournaments completed between July 2014 and June 2015 (some exceptions may be made for some associations if their competitions are completed later, so long as they are completed before teams from that association enter the tournament). Guyana, Saint Lucia, and the British Virgin Islands did not complete any major competitions during this time, so the results of their most recently completed competitions was used instead. The Bahamas season was not completed, and the standings when the season was cancelled were used (calculated as a per game average).

In addition to the previous year's champion, 21 teams qualify directly to the group stage of the tournament from associations ranked 1 through 9. Five of the remaining 10 qualifying places are granted to the winners of a three round qualifying tournament between the remaining 30 national champions, within which those champions from associations with higher coefficients receive byes to the second qualifying round. The other five places are granted to the winners of a two round play-off round between the 12 clubs from associations ranked 1 through 13 (excluding Canada), which have qualified based upon finishing second, third, fourth, or fifth in their respective national league.

The winner of the previous year's SuperLiga would have enter in play-off round if they did not qualify for the group stage via their domestic performance. The stream they entered would have depeneded on the rank the Champions League title holder's association.

Tournament
The tournament proper begins with a group stage of 32 teams, divided into eight groups. Seeding was used whilst making the draw for this stage, whilst teams from the same country may not be drawn into groups together. Each team meets the others in its group home and away in a round-robin format. The winning team and the runners-up from each group then progress to the next round.

For this stage, the winning team from one group plays against the runners-up from another group, and teams from the same association may not be drawn against each other. From the quarter-finals onwards, the draw was entirely random, without association protection (in the semifinals, two teams from the same association must be paired with each other). The tournament uses the away goals rule: if the aggregate score of the two games was tied, then the team who scored more goals at their opponent's stadium advanced. If the teams were tied on away goals, an 30 additional minutes (two 15 minute periods) of extra time would have been played. If the match remains tied, the game would have gone to penalty kicks. This is a variation of the method used in the UEFA Champions League and other tournaments, the difference being that the away goals rule is not applied after extra time.

Distribution
The table below shows the default access list. Changes would have needed to be made in the following cases:
 * If both the Champions League title holders and the SuperLiga title holders have qualified for the group stage through domestic performance, the champions of association 10 are moved from the second qualifying round to the play-off round, and the champions of associations 20 and 21 are moved from the first qualifying round to the second qualifying round.
 * If the Champions League title holders have qualified for the group stage through domestic performance while the SuperLiga title holders have not, the SuperLiga title holders enter the group stage through the berth vacated by the Champions League title holders. If the SuperLiga title holders had qualified for any of the qualifying rounds or play-off round through domestic performance, their berth would have been vacated, and teams of the highest-ranked associations are moved to a later round accordingly.
 * If the Champions League title holders have not qualified for the group stage through domestic performance, there are two sets of changes that may need to be made:
 * If the Champions League title holders have qualified for any of the qualifying rounds or play-off round through domestic performance, their berth is vacated, and teams of the highest-ranked associations are moved to a later round accordingly.
 * If the SuperLiga title holders have not qualified for the group stage through domestic performance, they enter the play-off round, where the section (Champions Route or League Route) they enter depends on whether they are league champions or not. The teams of the lowest-ranked associations are moved to an earlier round accordingly.

Notes:

Association team allocation
A total of 64, 65 or 66 teams from 39 of the 41 CONCACAF member associations are expected to participate in the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League (the exceptions being Montserrat and Sint Maarten, which have not organized domestic leagues since 2004 and 2007, respectively). The association rankings, based on the CONCACAF country coefficients, are used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:


 * Associations 1 and 2 each five teams qualify.
 * Associations 3 and 5 have four teams qualify.
 * Associations 6 and 7 have three teams qualify.
 * Associations 8–13 each have two teams qualify.
 * Associations 4 (Canada), and 14–39 each have one team qualify.

Association ranking (2015–16)
For the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their CONCACAF country coefficients. These coefficients take into account their performance in the CONCACAF Champions League from 2010–11 to 2014–15. Associations with the same coefficient are ranked based on the previous year's rankings.

Apart from the allocation based on the country coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
 * (SL) – Additional berth for SuperLiga title holders

Teams
League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses (TH: Champions League title holders; SL: SuperLiga title holders).

Round and draw dates
The schedule of the competition was as follows.

Qualifying rounds
In the qualifying rounds and the play-off round, teams are divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their CONCACAF club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.

First qualifying round
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 22 June 2015. The first legs were played on 14–20 July, and the second legs were played from 21–23 July 2015.

A total of 20 teams play in the first qualifying round. The teams were split into two groups of 10 teams, with each containing 5 seeded teams and 5 unseeded teams.


 * }

Second qualifying round
The second qualifying round was split into two separate sections: Champions Route (for league champions) and League Route (for league non-champions or second champions). The losing teams in both sections enter the 2015–16 CONCACAF SuperLiga playoff-round.

The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 17 July 2015. The first legs were played on 28 and 29 July, and the second legs were played on 4 and 5 August 2015.

!colspan=6|Champions Route

!colspan=6|League Route


 * }

Play-off round
The play-off round was split into two separate sections: Champions Route (for league champions) and League Route (for league non-champions or second champions). The losing teams in both sections enter the 2015–16 CONCACAF SuperLiga group stage.

The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 August 2015. The first legs were played on 18 and 19 August, and the second legs were played on 25 and 26 August 2015.

A total of 20 teams play in the play-off round:

!colspan=6|Champions Route

!colspan=6|League Route

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Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 27 August 2015. The 32 teams were allocated into four pots. The title holders were placed in Pot 1 automatically, along with the champions of associations ranked 1 through 7. For associations that use an Apertura/Clausura system, the champions with the best record on aggregate were placed in Pot 1. The remaining teams were placed in Pots 2 through 4 based on their 2015 club coefficients. The teams were drawn into eight groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other.

In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays were 15–16 September, 29–30 September, 20–21 October, 3–4 November, 24–25 November, and 8–9 December 2015. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams entered the 2015–16 CONCACAF SuperLiga round of 32.

A total of 32 teams played in the group stage: 22 teams which entered in this stage, and the 10 winners of the play-off round (5 from the Champions Route and 5 from the League Route).

Knockout phase
In the knockout phase, teams play against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis. The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:
 * In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners were seeded, and the eight group runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association could not be drawn against each other.
 * In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could have been drawn against each other.
 * If any association sent two teams to the semifinals, those teams were automatically paired with each other and the draw was used to determine which team hosts the second leg of each semifinal match-up. For this reason, UANL and Santos Laguna were automatically paired against each other in the semifinals.

Round of 16
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 14 December 2015. The first legs were played on 16, 17, 23 and 24 February, and the second legs were played on 8, 9, 15 and 16 March 2016.


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Quarter-finals
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 18 March 2016. The first legs were played on 5 and 6 April, and the second legs were played on 12 and 13 April 2016.


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Semi-finals
The draw for the semi-finals and final was held on 15 April 2016. The first legs were played on 26 and 27 April, and the second legs were played on 3 and 4 May 2016.


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Final
The first leg of the final was played on 21 May, and the second leg was played on 28 May 2016.


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