The Columbus Crew do not necessarily need to make history on Wednesday in Toluca, Mexico to advance to the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals.
After the 2-2 draw in Columbus last Tuesday, there are several scenarios at play.
No MLS team has ever won a match on Mexican soil in an official competition. An outright win by any score would be a first for MLS and guarantee the Crew passage to the final four on aggregate (total) goals. A loss would eliminate the last MLS team standing in the tournament.
However, if Robert Warzycha’s men tie Toluca on three or more goals in regulation (3-3, 4-4, etc.), the CONCACAF Champions League away goals tiebreaker kicks into effect and the Crew would be through.
The away goals tiebreaker rule would tip in Toluca’s favor should the teams draw 0-0 or 1-1 during regulation on Wednesday.
The tricky part comes with a 2-2 tie, an identical result to the first leg’s final score. Both teams would have the same number of aggregate goals and away goals scored.
According to section 2.3 of the official CONCACAF Champions League regulations, extra time would then be required (or “overtime” as stated in the rule book).
However, unlike other international club competitions, in CONCACAF the away goal rule goes out the window during extra time.
In fact should Toluca match the number of goals scored by the Crew in the extra time period, the quarterfinal series would be decided on penalty kicks. The fact that the Crew’s extra time goals are “away” goals would have no bearing.
With altitude being a factor in Toluca, the Crew will likely prefer to wrap this one up in regulation and avoid the extra math.
