Two-time Caribbean club champion W. Connection of Trinidad will open its bid for a third title against Centre Bath Estate, drawing the Dominica side for the first-round knockout pairing in the CFU Club Champions Cup.
Center Bath Estate, Sevilla Temepe, SV Britannia and CSD Barber will host the first legs of the first round March 18 with the second legs set for a week later.
The Caribbean event will qualify three teams for next season’s CONCACAF Champions League.
Teams also were drawn into pairings for the second round, which will have the first leg on April 13 and the return leg April 20. The Sevilla-Greenbay winner will play the winner between Tampete and Alpha United, while the W. Connection-Centre Bath victor will face off against either Cavaly or SV Britannia. Inter Moengo Tapoe or CSD Barber will play against San Juan Jabloteh of Trinidad, one of two teams that received byes to the later rounds based on last year’s performance.
Jabloteh and the Puerto Rico Islanders were the only teams that reached the 2008 Caribbean semifinals that returned to this year’s event. The Islanders, which have advanced to the quarterfinals of the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League, were placed in the single-game semifinals by virtue of having beaten Jabloteh for third place last year and must wait until after the second round to learn their opponent.
The single-game semifinals will be held May 15 in Trinidad & Tobago, which also will host the final and third-place game two days later.
CFU Club Champions Cup
First Round
First Leg: March 18
Second Leg: March 25
*Sevilla Bayamon FC (Puerto Rico) vs. Greenbay Hoppers (Antigua)
*Centre Bath Estate (Dominica) vs. W. Connection (Trinidad)
*Temepte FC (Haiti) vs. Alpha United (Guyana)
*SV Britannia (Aruba) vs. Cavaly (Haiti)
*CSD Barber (Netherlands Antilles) vs. Inter Moengo Tapoe (Suriname)
*hosts first leg
Second Round
First Leg: April 13
Second Leg: April 20
*San Juan Jabloteh (Trinidad) vs. Moengo Tapoe-Barber winner
*Greenbay-Sevilla winner vs. Tampete-Alpha United winner
*W Connection-Centre Bath winner vs. Cavaly-Britannia winner
*hosts first leg
Semifinal winners and the Puerto Rico Islanders will be drawn for single-game semifinals after the second round is complete. The semifinals will be played May 15 in Trinidad, which also will stage the final and third-place match two days later.