New England Revolution with all-time collapse, blow 3-0 lead in CONCACAF Champions League to UNAM Pumas

By | March 17, 2022
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This was supposed to be the year for MLS to finally break through in the CONCACAF Champions League, a competition dominated by the Mexican league.

Major League Soccer clubs held leads in three of four quarterfinal series after the first legs, none greater than the 3-0 margin for the New England Revolution after they throttled Liga MX side UNAM Pumas. It wouldn’t last.

Pumas took firm control of the second leg, overwhelming the Revs from the opening whistle with a 3-0 victory of its own. The ensuing penalty shootout felt like a formality, with the momentum firmly on the Mexican club’s side, and it proved just that.

Sebastian Lletget skied his penalty — the second failure for New England in the shootout — and Juan Dinenno, who scored two of the three Pumas goals in regulation, sealed the victory. By advancing, Pumas became just the second team in CONCACAF Champions League history to lose a first leg by three goals and advance to the next round. The first was Club America in 2015. It fell to Costa Rican side Herediano in the first leg of their semifinal before a 6-0 second-leg win.

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New England’s defeat sees another MLS club drop out of the competition, following the Colorado Rapids and CF Montreal. No MLS club has ever won the CONCACAF Champions League, and while it seemed that the league’s sides were set up perfectly for a shot at that first title, those chances took a huge hit with the reigning Supporters’ Shield winners bowing out.

New England’s body language was difficult all match. Adam Buksa, who scored two of the Revolution’s three goals in the first leg, cast a frustrated figure with each chance that fell short or skittered wide. Tommy McNamara was off the pace all night and had his palms to the sky after his poor effort in the penalty shootout was saved. Lletget’s penalty miss was telegraphed with a concerned look on his face as he stepped up, his dismal effort drawing a clear expletive from head coach Bruce Arena.

Before the match, Arena was asked if the team’s approach to the second leg would be different from that of the first leg. “Common sense would tell you our approach will certainly be different,” he said. “We don’t need to score goals. They do.”

Ahem, Pumas scored goals. Three of them, to be exact.

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Now the burden falls to the Seattle Sounders, who will have been warned as they hold a 3-0 first-leg lead over Club Leon, with that series also heading to Mexico. Reigning MLS Cup winner NYCFC is the other MLS representative still in the competition. Those those two clubs now carry the torch for the American domestic league.

If Seattle can hold on, it would guarantee a Liga MX vs. MLS final. Seattle would face NYCFC in one semifinal while Pumas is already set to take on Cruz Azul in the other one. That means there’s still a great chance for MLS to win its first CCL title. At the moment, however, it feels like the same old story for the league in North America’s biggest club competition.

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