The Champions League is on and Atlanta United is scheduled to begin play in April.
CONCACAF, the region of FIFA that oversees North America and the Caribbean, announced important dates for this year’s tournament on Friday.
The bracket draw for the event will be held February 10, which is when Atlanta United will learn its first opponent.
This will be the third year that the Five Stripes have competed in the tournament. It was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Monterrey in 2019 and Club America in 2020. The tournament typically starts in mid-February.
The first-round games will be a home-and-home series scheduled to be played April 6-8 and April 13-15.
The quarterfinals are scheduled to be played as a home-and-home series on April 27-29 and May 4-6.
The semifinals are scheduled to be played as a home-and-home series on August 10-12 and August 24-26.
The championship will be a single leg and is scheduled to be played October 26-28. The team that hosts will be the club that produced the most points from the early rounds. Goal-difference will be the tie-breaker, if needed.
MLS has yet to announce its schedule. Atlanta United has yet to announce when it will open camp under new manager Gabriel Heinze.
Clubs scheduled to compete in this year’s Champions League are:
Canada: Forge FC or Toronto FC*
Costa Rica: Deportivo Saprissa and LD Alajuelense
Dominican Republic: Club Atletico Pantoja
Haiti: Arcahaie FC
Honduras: CD Marathon and CD Olimpia
Mexico: Club América, Club León, Cruz Azul and CF Monterrey
Nicaragua: Real Estelí FC
USA: Atlanta United FC, Columbus Crew SC, Philadelphia Union and Portland Timbers
*The winner of the Canadian Championship (date TBD) between Forge FC and Toronto FC will compete in the 2021 SCCL.
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