Earlier today, New York City FC announced the days, times, and venues for the two upcoming ties with Guatemalan side Comunicaciones FC in the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals.
• NYCFC host Comunicaciones FC at Pratt & Whitney Stadium in East Hartford, CT, on Tuesday, March 8, at 8 pm ET
• Comunicaciones FC host NYCFC at Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores in Guatemala City on Tuesday, March 15, at 8 pm ET
NYCFC will play Comunicaciones, 30-time champions of the Liga Nacional de Guatemala, at Pratt & Whitney Stadium for the same reasons that the club hosted Costa Rican side Santos de Guápiles at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles: Yankee Stadium is not a CONCACAF-approved venue; Citi Field, NYCFC’s second home, is also not CONCACAF-approved; and Red Bulls Arena, NYCFC’s other home-away-from-home, is unavailable.
It’s not the first time NYCFC played a home game in Connecticut. On September 23, 2017, City hosted Houston Dynamo on the synthetic turf of Pratt & Whitney Stadium. NYCFC scored early, then letting Houston slip in a goal soon after. That game ended 1-1.
NYCFC also played an away match at Pratt & Whitney Stadium against Toronto FC on October 28, 2020, when Toronto called the venue home during the COVID-shortened season. NYCFC won that game 1-0.
NYCFC will hope for a more convincing win against Comunicaciones. City emphatically won their CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 matchups against Santos, beating them by an aggregate of 6-0 over two legs. It was the most one-sided win by any team in the Round of 16 matchups.
As expected, NYCFC’s advancing in the CONCACAF Champions League games will add some congestion to an already busy regular season schedule. NYCFC will travel to play Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday, March 5; host Comunicaciones in East Hartford on Tuesday, March 8; host CF Montréal at Yankee Stadium for the home opener on Saturday, March 12; travel to Guatemala City to play Comunicaciones on Tuesday, March 15; and then host Philadelphia Union at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, March 19.
That’s five games at four different stadiums in three countries in fifteen days. Quite the start to the 2022 season.
