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Sporting Kansas City to face Cruz Azul in Champions League Quarterfinals

Sporting KC will get their first taste of Champions League knockout action when they take on Cruz Azul next March.

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Following the results of the final round of CONCACAF Champions League group stage matches, Sporting Kansas City now knows their seed and opponent for the next round.

Sporting KC, as the seventh seed, will take on the two seed Cruz Azul in a two-leg quarterfinal round next March. The dates are unknown but Sporting will get the first home match before heading to Mexico City for the second leg.

Cruz Azul is a historically successful Mexican club, winning the Primera Division eight times in the league's 70 year history. Cruz Azul have not won the Champions League in its current format but have won previous editions six times since the tournament's inception in 1962.

Overall, the three Mexican teams that made it to the knockout stage, Toluca, Cruz Azul and Tijauna, are the first, second and third seeds respectively. Club America was the only Mexican team not to make it.

The MLS on the other hand did not fare so well. Los Angeles picked up the sixth seed after a poor performance in their final group stage match. Sporting KC picked up the seventh seed and San Jose rounded out the league with the eighth seed. The Houston Dynamo failed to make the knockout round.

Panamanian club Arabe Unido and Costa Rican side Alajuelense will be the fourth and fifth seeds respectively.

Here is how the bracket shapes up for the quarterfinals.

Screen_shot_2013-10-24_at_11

It's a tough road ahead for Sporting Kansas City but they've got an entire offseason plus some Kamara money to help bolster the squad ahead of the quarterfinals. Now, we wait.