Without kicking a ball, the LA Galaxy accomplished one of this season’s primary goals—qualifying for the Quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.
The Galaxy earned a place in the knockout stages by virtue of the Puerto Rico Islanders 3-0 victory over Isidro Metapán on Thursday night in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
From start to finish, Puerto Rico dominated the Salvadorans and broke through with a pair of goals from forward Hector Ramos as well as one from Gregory Richardson in second half stoppage time. (watch highlights at the top of this page) The Islanders victory clinched the top spot in group 5 for the Galaxy. LA are the third team to move on the Quarterfinals to date, joining Mexico’s Monterrey and Seattle Sounders FC.
There is still one final CCL match on the docket for LA. The Galaxy must travel down to El Salvador to face off against Metapán on Oct. 25. Despite already possessing a ticket to the quarterfinals, LA’s Salvadoran sojourn will be important due to the new seeding process for the quarters.
In CONCACAF’s new CCL format, the group stage winners are ranked 1-8 based on their record with the best ranking taking on the eighth best ranking and so forth.
READ: CCL standings and tiebreakers
If the tournament ended today, the Galaxy would be in fifth place.
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@gmail.com
