Draw for 2018 CONCACAF Champions League Set; Red Bulls placed in Pot 1

The New York Red Bulls’ 2018 campaign will begin between February 20th and February 22nd in the Round of 16 of the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League.

On Wednesday the Red Bulls published a press release from CONCACAF outlining the details of the upcoming Champions League competition, including the draw date, team seeding and match dates.

The draw is scheduled to take place on December 18, 2017 in Miami.

There will be two Pots of eight teams - Pot 1 and Pot 2. The Red Bulls have been placed into Pot 1 along with MLS’s Toronto FC, FC Dallas and Seattle Sounders FC, plus Liga MX representatives CD Guadalajara, Club America, Tigres UANL, and Club Tijuana.

The Red Bulls’ opponent will be one of seven teams in Pot 2 (per CONCACAF rules, they cannot face the Colorado Rapids in the first round). Their possible opponents consists of Deportivo Saprissa (Costa Rica), CS Herediano (Costa Rica), Cibao FC (Dominican Republic), FC Motagua (Honduras), Club Deportivo Olimpia (Honduras), Tauro FC (Panama), Santa Tecla FC (El Salvador).

In the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League, the Red Bulls emerged as winners of Group F in the Group Stage, taking eight points in four games from Antigua GFC and Alianza. However, the were knocked out in the Quarter-Finals by MLS rival Vancouver Whitecaps on a 1-3 aggregate score.

The Red Bulls qualified for the upcoming Champions League after finishing 1st on the Eastern Conference table in the 2016 MLS season. The format for the competition was changed following the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League, changing from a Group Stage consisting of eight groups of three to a 16-team Round Robin.