León beats LAFC in 2nd leg to wins the CONCACAF Champions League for the first-time in team history.
Thenks to Lucas Di Yorio first half goal scores, Leon beat LAFC 1-0 in the second leg of CCL 2023 to win the CONCACAF Champions League final at BMO Stadium on Sunday to win its first-ever continental title by a final score of 3-1 on aggregate.
LAFC came into the match trailing 2-1 from the first leg in Leon, looking to overturn that deficit and make it back-to-back Champions League title for MLS after Seattle Sounders FC beat beat Pumas in last year's final.
León triumphed 2-1 in Mexico on Wednesday night to win the championship 3-1 overall. At the intimidating BMO Stadium of LAFC, the Liga MX team delighted its thousands of out-of-town supporters with another successful effort, capped by Di Yorio's goal in the 20th minute.
León defeated the reigning Major League Soccer champions with superior performance in both matches despite finishing sixth in the Liga MX standings last month. León is the eighth team from Mexico to win the Champions League since the competition's current structure was introduced in 2002.
LAFC won both the Supporters’ Shield and the MLS Cup last fall, but fell short of an unprecedented treble for an MLS club.
In the first leg, León took a two-goal lead into second-half injury time before a dramatic strike from Denis Bouanga kept LAFC’s hope alive despite its 2-1 loss.
The Seattle Sounders won the Champions League for the first time in the current system a year ago, adding weight to the growing parity of the leagues.
The team also lost the 2020 final to Tigres after defeating León with a second-leg comeback victory earlier in that competition.
Nevertheless, LAFC lost the Champions League final for the second time in four seasons. 17 of the previous 18 CCL championships have been won by Mexican teams.
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