By Luis Bueno – CARSON, CA (Apr 20, 2016) US Soccer Players - Since all of the MLS teams exited the 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League, the tournament has fallen off the screen and out of sight for many American soccer fans. Honestly, the final is not generating much buzz south of the border either.

The Champions League final is all but a formality now instead of a sought-after, attention-grabbing event. The tournament overall has that feel to it as well. It has its moments, but it’s not something fans plan their lives around.

While the CONCACAF Champions League will likely never match the UEFA Champions League, the New World version of it can be more enthralling than it is in its current state. With a few simple changes, the tournament can become more of a spotlight-worthy even rather than the mundane ho-hum event it has become.

MORE COMPETITION FOR ALL

Three-team groups are dull. There is usually some intrigue but the way the groups work out, there are not many intense must-see group-stage matches. Going back to four-team groups would change that. Groups of four ensure that MLS teams would meet up with Liga MX teams before the knockout rounds. MLS vs Liga MX is always a strong matchup. Four-team groups would provide up to eight of those games.

There is much more intrigue with the four-team setup. There is typically one strong team in each three-team group. The group winners are not as difficult to pick in the current format. The only question that usually brings the intrigue is what the seeding will look like for the knockout round. Reverting to four-team groups will make it so where every group-stage match is important. With Liga MX teams taking points from other teams, group matches involving non-Mexican teams are more significant.

Also, there are fewer teams outside of the US and Mexico making it to the knockout rounds. There have been as many Champions League campaigns featuring three-team groups as there were four-team groups, four apiece. Of the quarterfinalists who made it out of four-team groups, 10 were from outside of Mexico and the United States. One fewer has come out from three-team groups, but five of the teams from outside North America’s power grid reached the quarterfinals in the 2014-15 campaign.

This season saw an even split between Mexican and American sides, with four teams from each country meeting in the quarterfinals. It stands to reason that and MLS side and/or a Mexican side would be the favorite in the group stage, outside of a US vs Canada meeting. That would likely mean MLS clubs playing against one another.

Costa Rican clubs may not be as strong as their Mexican counterparts. The same goes for Honduran and Panamanian clubs. Still, their inclusion in this tournament must not be cursory. There must be more opportunity for those teams than there exists currently. A return to the four-team groups brings that.

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Counting the Canadian team, as all Canadian participants in Champions League have been MLS clubs, MLS gets five berths a year into the Champions League.

Why?

Only two Costa Rican teams make it in each season, even though clubs from that league have won the tournament in recent memory. Alajuelense won the Champions Cup in 2004 with Saprissa winning it the next year. The format then was a straight knockout competition, starting with home-and-away quarterfinal matchups proceeding that way until the final.

Under the current format, there have been only two non-Mexican clubs to reach the final, and both have been MLS teams. The lack of Costa Rican participants though makes it more difficult for a Costa Rican team to reach the final simply because the numbers are not in their favor.

The tournament should reinstitute the preliminary round. American MLS teams should get two automatic berths but must earn their other two spots. MLS clubs have not done enough over the course of history to have cemented those spots, as Mexican teams have done, and should be forced to battle for their spots until that changes.

There were a few major upsets when MLS teams had to compete in the preliminary round. The Galaxy lost to Puerto Rico Islanders in 2010 while New York Red Bulls lost to W Connection and New England fell to Joe Public in previous meetings. Those types of upsets would happen more often, once again adding more intrigue into the tournament.

CHANGE THE DATES… JUST A BIT

MLS has advocated for some sort of calendar change. The main complaint from MLS has been that their teams have to play intense meaningful matches while their clubs are in preseason form, and must do so against teams who are in midseason form. This is a great challenge because MLS does not follow the traditional calendar. For MLS to change their calendar to accommodate for Champions League play is not an option, but the opposite could happen. The Champions League could adjust the calendar slightly.

This year, the quarterfinals could have started on March 9 and the tournament still could have ended with the final’s second leg in April. Starting in late February, while only two weeks prior, makes it much more difficult for MLS teams. March does not buy more time but it does allow MLS teams to complete their preseason and get into the regular season before playing big matches.

Playing into May is another possibility but one Liga MX would protest. The Mexican league playoffs start in May, and for a Liga MX team to have to play a midweek playoff game and a midweek Champions League match in the same week would be a nightmarish scenario. This year, both Champions League finalists are in line for playoff spots.

With some tweaking, this tournament could go from mundane to exciting once more. Mexico’s domination of the tournament may continue but there would certainly be more interest along the way with a tournament facelift.

Luis Bueno is a veteran soccer writer. Follow him on twitter @BuenoSoccer.

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