Toronto FC: 4 things we learned from Champions League stumble
By Alex Taylor
2) CONCACAF road games prove TFC downfall…as usual
The 2019 tournament marks the sixth time that TFC have qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League, and there is one disturbing pattern that has persisted throughout all of Toronto’s campaigns – a lack of road success.
Toronto FC are 1-3-1 in two-legged road ties played outside of the United States, with the one win coming with a major asterisk. (TFC “won” the second leg of the 2018 final against Guadalajara, only to lose in the penalty shootout that followed that match.)
Routinely, TFC have needed to dominate their home leg in order to advance; a game plan that becomes increasingly difficult when the team is forced to battle back from a significant deficit.
Independiente now join Tigres UANL, Santos Laguna, Pumas UNAM, C.D. Arabe Unido and the Puerto Rico Islanders in the growing list of central american teams that have avoided losing to Toronto FC at home.
Each of these teams successfully tapped into their home field advantage, and routinely, they have done it better than TFC have in the return leg. Until the Reds can right that anomaly, continental success will continue to allude them.