CONCACAF Champions Cup schedule: Semi-final fixtures and dates

The CONCACAF Champions Cup continues this week with four quarter-final second leg fixtures. The games are played across Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 April and we have seen real drama from the continental competition.

On Tuesday Columbus Crew pulled off a major shock against Mexican giants Tigres UANL. The first leg in Ohio ended 1-1 and Tigres looked to have taken charge in the return fixture, leaping on a mistake from Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte to take an early lead. Columbus, the reigning MLS Cup champions, fought back and levelled the game through Diego Rossi, eventually taking the game to a penalty shoot-out.

Columbus kept their nerve in front of a hostile home crowd at Estadio Universitario and defeated the Liga MX side 4-3 on penalties. It was a famous moment for US soccer, with Columbus becoming the first MLS team to win a penalty shoot-out against Mexican opposition.

Tuesday’s other quarter-final was less dramatic, Club América strolled to a 5-2 victory over New England Revolution to end with a 9-2 aggregate win over the Eastern Conference strugglers.

Will there be a CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final draw?

Many domestic cup competitions, such as the FA Cup and the Copa del Rey, have a draw after each round to decide who plays who in the following round. However in the CONCACAF Champions Cup the pathway from the quarter-finals onwards has already been established, meaning that there will not be a draw to decide the semi-final fixtures.

Columbus Crew and Tigres will each take on one winner from Wednesday’s quarter-finals. Here’s how the fixtures are lined up...

Both semi-finals will be played on the same nights, with the first legs coming on Tuesday, 23 April and the return fixtures the following week, on Tuesday, 30 April. The two victorious sides will then go head-to-head in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final on Sunday, 2 June.

The reigning champions are Mexican side León, but they failed to qualify for this year’s edition and stood no chance of retaining their continental crown. Their Liga MX rivals Club América have been heavily tipped to win this year’s competition and add to their record seven CONCACAF titles. América’s most recent triumph came in 2016 when they won the second of back-to-back titles.