The Clausura 2020 of the León Club was a tournament that was marked by two factors: the elimination of the Concachampions at the hands of Carlos Vela’s LAFC, and the cancellation of the championship after ten days due to the coronavirus pandemic.
At that time, back in March of last year, the emerald team was on the rise, and by the time the competition stopped, the Fiera was already the sub-leader of the tournament with 21 points, only one point below Cruz Azul.
Ultimately, this was what allowed the green-and-white team to qualify for the 2021 Concacaf Champions Cup, since after the tournament was canceled, Concacaf and the FMF decided that the two best-ranked teams would automatically access the next edition of the continental tournament.
Now, ten months later, the León is preparing for its revenge against the best teams on the continent, although it does so amid the uncertainty caused by its calendar, because it is still not known when the Concachampions will be played.
And the situation is complicated. The final phase of the Concachampions is played regularly from the round of 16 between the months of February and April of each year, although the pandemic came to disrupt its usual calendar, and the 2020 edition, which would have ended in April, was postponed, and just last December the Tigers defeated LAFC in the final of the tournament.
Also in December 2020, the six classifieds in the Concacaf League (previous tournament in which teams from Central America, Canada and the Caribbean qualify) were defined, and there were already 15 teams confirmed for the round of 16 of the Concachampions 2021.
The field for Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League 2021 is nearly set! Who’s raising the ???? this year? pic.twitter.com/WGzEdzf43B
— Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League (@TheChampions) January 15, 2021
But the last team, the number 16 that will complete the key to the round of 16 and allow the announcement of the tournament schedule has not yet been defined, and it seems to be what has ended up delaying the entire competition.
It is about the Canadian representative, champion of the Canadian Championship and that will be defined in the final between Toronto FC and Forge FC, which does not yet have a dispute date, and that it was only confirmed that it would be played ‘in the first quarter of 2021 ‘, according to the latest report dating from November 2020.
This is the main reason why the schedule for the Concachampions 2021 has not been announced.
Forge FC fall in their final Concacaf League bid for @TheChampions. A Canadian Championship Final matchup with @TorontoFC will determine the 2021 Champions League entrant. ???????? ⚽️ https://t.co/pU0FkPOPQT
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) December 9, 2020
Whatever happens, it seems that Concacaf already has a defined plan and a calendar ready to be announced as soon as the last classified in the tournament is defined, but in any case the scenario for Club León looks complicated.
Just yesterday, in an interview for Cancha Política, the sports director of the León Club, Rodrigo Fernández, confirmed that the competition would not start in February, as it traditionally did, but that the tournament would go to March, but assured that it would not be linked to the meeting postponed against Monterrey, which was moved to March 10.
“In February there will be no participation in Concacaf and it will go to March. Then we will be pending, obviously it will not be connected with this date of March 10, it will not be connected with Concacaf. We will be pending, I believe that in these days you can give us the calendar, “said the manager.
In addition, he confirmed that there is still no set date for the tournament.
“We do not have the dates of the start of the Concacaf participation, or what they are managing,” he added.
But this would mean more problems for the Fiera, not only because the load of matches in March would be brutal, but because the tournament could be extended until May and could also be linked to the Guard1anes 2021 league,
This, added to the possibility of new coronavirus outbreaks that force the rescheduling of league matches, ends up bringing more uncertainty to the Fiera, which simply does not know when, where or against whom it will play the 2021 Concacaf Champions Cup.
For now nothing is written. Concacaf could delay the Concachampions over the months, or they could hold a blitz tournament in a bubble venue, as was done in December in Orlando.
So far the only sure thing is the general uncertainty, and the frustration of not even knowing when the schedule will be published and the draw will take place. It only remains to wait.
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