



Los Angeles getting dumped out of the preliminary round of the Champions League to Puerto Rico (5-3 on aggregate) Wednesday night – as seen on GOL TV Canada – puts a well deserved spotlight on Toronto FC’s accomplishment in this tournament to date.



Getting into the group stage makes the Reds a top-16 team in North America. Should they finish in the top two of Group A and advance to the final eight, the Reds will be one of the continent’s elite squads for 2010-11.



To get there, a very tactical approach will be needed. This may mean playing to boring draws on the road and picking up at least two wins at home against any combination of Cruz Azul, Arabe Unido and Real Salt Lake out of a very strong quartet that will see Toronto tested.



The toughest challenge will be from one half of the all-Mexican final in the 2009-10 Champions League season, Cruz Azul. This club lives for continental titles, having made it to the final a record seven times and winning on five occasions. If Toronto can get a point or better against them at BMO Field on August 17, it would be a major boost going forward.



VIDEO: Watch Toronto's 2-2 draw to Motagua, allowing the Reds passage to the Champions League group stage 3-2 on aggregate.

An equally difficult test will arrive from 2009 MLS Cup champion Real Salt Lake. The Royals are in form. They have the second best record in Major League Soccer, sit just six points behind Los Angeles to make a challenge for the league table and have already dominated Toronto once at home this year.



Salt Lake’s first-year striker Alvaro Saborio is a 2005 Champions League winner with Saprissa, a Costa Rican powerhouse. Saborio then led his club to a third place finish in the world behind Brazil’s Sao Paulo and England’s Liverpool at the 2005 FIFA Club World Cup.



The third opponent – Arabe Unido – may be unfashionable, but they were quarterfinalists last year finishing ahead of Houston in the groups before bowing out to Cruz Azul. The Panamanian 2010 Clausura champion can be impressive at home, but are lackluster on the road. For example, they were blasted 5-1 in Houston last September, but in Panama a month earlier, Arabe beat eventual Champions League winner Pachuca 4-1. No easy points for Toronto here either.



Two wins and three draws could put the Reds through to the quarterfinals of the Champions League (called the Championship Round). Since the current format of the tournament was adopted from the 2008-09 season, nine points or fewer has been good enough for half of the second place teams to advance.



It may sound unsporting to aim for second, but given Cruz Azul’s dominance at this stage (26 points from 12 matches in the past two seasons) a tactically plotted second place finish would be a dynamic result for Toronto. The team could then go for broke in the Championship Round.



While there is a great challenge ahead, Torontonians should take pride in the team getting to this stage for the first time on its third attempt (counting the 2008 NCC flop).



A taste for Champions League football has now hit Toronto forever thanks to Tuesday's triumph in Honduras.



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