CARSON, Calif. (Tuesday, June 4, 2013) – The LA Galaxy have been drawn into Group 8 of the 2013-12 CONCACAF Champions League alongside Isidro Metapan of El Salvador and Club Sport Cartagines of Costa Rica. The Champions League draw, which set the eight, three-team pairings that comprise the tournament’s Group Stage, was held last night at the InterContinental at Doral in Miami. The full tournament schedule will be announced at a later date while the eventual Champions League winner will earn a berth in the 2014 FIFA World Club Cup.
WATCH: CCL 101
A semifinalist in the 2012-13 Champions League, the Galaxy qualified for this installment of the tournament by winning MLS Cup 2012 last December. This is the fourth consecutive year in which LA have qualified for the Champions League, debuting in the 2010-11 installment of the tournament. After being eliminated in the Preliminary Round of the 2010-11 Champions League, the Galaxy won their group in each of the last two tournaments, falling in the Quarterfinals in 2011-12 and in the Semifinals in 2012-13.
READ: Galaxy CCL History
In Group 8, the Galaxy will face the Salvadorian 2012 Apertura Champion Isidro Metapan, who also faced the Galaxy in the Group Stage of the 2012-13 Champions League, and Club Sport Cartagines, the Costa Rican 2013 Verano runner-up.
Metapan, who lost a pair of games against the Galaxy in the competition last season, features a roster that includes El Salvador National Team regulars Milton Molina, Eliseo Quintanilla and Alfredo Pacheco, as well as Panamanian forward Nicolas Munoz, who finished as the joint-top scorer in the Champions League last year, scoring six times in four games, including three goals in two games against the Galaxy. The club is currently coached by Edwin Portillo, who has led Metapan to seven league titles since 2006, the most by any manager in Salvadorian league history.
Cartagines, who lost on penalties to Herediano in the Final of the Costa Rican 2013 Verano championship, are playing in the Champions League for the first time in club history. The 1994 CONCACAF Champions Cup winners, Cartagines qualified for the competition after CONCACAF allocated a third Champions League berth to Costa Rica when the nation of Belize was deemed not to have a stadium that met the standards for hosting a Champions League game
