With the conclusion of the 2014 MLS Cup Final, the league's representatives for the 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League are set.
Real Salt Lake join MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy, U.S. Open Cup and Supporters' Shield champions Seattle Sounders and Eastern Conference regular season champions D.C. United as the American teams to participate in the next edition of the tournament, which will begin next summer. They are joined by Canada's representatives, the Vancouver Whitecaps, who qualified as the Canadian MLS team with the best league record in 2014.
With the Sounders claiming two berths thanks to their Open Cup and Shield wins, one went to RSL by virtue of their being the highest-placed team in the overall MLS table not already qualified.
The Claret-and-Cobalt are the only MLS team to have reached the CCL final under the tournament's current format, as they fell to Mexican side Monterrey 3-2 on aggregate in the 2010-11 edition.
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"What a phenomenal accomplishment to have qualified for CCL again," said RSL General Manager Garth Lagerwey in a statement.
"Earning this berth in some ways validates our 15-win, 56-point season, a strong accomplishment in a difficult Western Conference," continued Lagerwey. "We have been working to get back into CCL since we got knocked out in the fall of 2012. This is a great opportunity for us to take on the best teams in the region as we continue to grow the next generation of RSL."
