After a long break, everyone's somebody's favorite tournament is back. The CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals start off tonight, and MLS fans in general should be pumped. This is the first time in the current format that two MLS clubs have gotten this far, and a very kind draw means that neither Real Salt Lake or the Columbus Crew will have to face a Mexican opponent until the final.

SB Nation's Soccer section has comprehensive coverage of the tournament , including a preview of CD Olimpia vs. Deportivo Saprissa by yours truly. Denz from RSL Soapbox has a very detailed preview up as well.

Complete TV listings can be found via CONCACAF (pdf)

Read on for my predictions and a little bit on each match up:

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I thought I'd open with a quick comment on the difference between Columbus and Seattle from last night's games. The Crew showed admirable maturity in finishing off Joe Public. Going into halftime at 0-0 was probably a huge mental boost for the Trinidadian side, but the Crew were completely unfazed. A couple tactical tweaks later, and Columbus had scored twice in six minutes. The key was that they didn't lose their way even as their opponent seemed to have gained a foothold in the match.

Contrast that with Seattle, who started rather well in San Jose, Costa Rica. Even when MLS clubs have gone to Saprissa and gotten good results (specifically DC's 2-2 draw in 2008 and Columbus's 1-0 win there last year), there's always been an element of good fortune in it. Saprissa controlled possession and territory in both of those games. Seattle was actually edging the game in those categories in the early stages, but once Saprissa settled into the game things came apart. Leo Gonzalez, who should have functioned as a reliable veteran given the young lineup sent out by the Sounders (Fredy Montero captained the side!), instead went in on a high, studs-up challenge on a 50-50 ball in a situation that offered up absolutely no danger for Seattle. Ignore any claims that the foul was more clumsy than reckless; in CCL play, if you're an MLS player, you simply cannot go in for challenges like that.

Down a man, Seattle played valiantly, but there were simply too many gaps. Saprissa scored ten minutes into the half, but then took their foot off the accelerator and gave the Sounders a chance to climb back into the game. Montero did well to get his club a penalty kick from a play that was going nowhere (it's brain-dead moments like that that cost Gabriel Badilla his MLS career), but again a player that should have been a leader on the night failed Sigi Schmid's men. Osvaldo Alonso opted for power over placement on his penalty kick, and Fausto Gonzalez knew all along where it was going to make the save.

My point: MLS teams that succeed in this tournament will be the mature, composed clubs that get smart play out of their veterans. Columbus proved that they're a mature team with or without their star names, while Seattle paid the price for their immaturity.

Onto the rest of our Matchday 3 preview:

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The first two CONCACAF Champions League matchdays set the tone for each group. In groups B and C, the Mexican powerhouse in each grabbed the full six points and will now be poised to clinch their place in the knockout round in the near future. On the other end of the table in those groups, three teams (Seattle, Municipal, and Joe Public) find themselves entering do-or-die territory. A loss on Matchday 3 would leave each of those clubs in a nearly impossible position as far as advancing is concerned.

Meanwhile, Group A has been just as close as predicted, with each club on three points. While today's upheaval in Toronto would indicate that the Canadian representatives are going to struggle to do very much in their remaining CCL games, it will be a real battle between Cruz Azul, Real Salt Lake, and CD Arabe Unido in the chase for a spot in the knockout stage. Finally in Group D, the top sides face off Wednesday night, with the Puerto Rico Islanders hoping to turn the competition on its head with a win at Deportivo Toluca. CD Olimpia of Honduras will host CD F.A.S. of El Salvador in what amounts to an early knockout game between two sides with just one point.

Beyond the jump, we'll take a look at each of tonight's games:

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In my Group A preview, I said that I felt that group was the real CCL group of death. That should not mean that Group A is far and away the most difficult; I think Group C is very, very close to being just as tricky to advance from. It contains a club from each of the four biggest CONCACAF leagues, and each club enters the competition with legitimate expectations of advancing through to the knockout phase.

Despite that, the one thing you can always rely on in the CCL is that the Mexican clubs are always the favorites. In Group C, that means CF Monterrey will be expected to take the top spot. However, they're by no means guaranteed a stroll here, as each of their opponents in the group see themselves as having big futures as CONCACAF powers, and to make that step up they'll have to be able to go toe-to-toe with Mexican powerhouses. The demands from the fans and front offices of every team in Group C are for nothing less than advancing to the next round. As a result of that and the attacking talent found on each team, I think this will be the CCL's most entertaining group.

Read on to see who the big names are and how they'll influence play in what should be a thrilling set of matches:

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The CCL draw has often been cruel to MLS clubs in the group stage. DC United has ended up with some brutal draws (including a spot in the 2008-2009 edition's "group of death"), while both Houston and Columbus have not gotten off much easier. Along with the obligatory Mexican giant, MLS teams seem to have a knack for ending up in groups with the top Central American clubs (like Marathon or Saprissa), while there is always that one group that looks like it would be a stroll by comparison.

However, an MLS club finally got lucky this time around. The Crew were seeded into Group B,  which should be the tournament's weakest group. While Santos Laguna will justifiably see themselves as the favorites, the Crew will not be intimidated at all by the rest of Group B (Guatemala's Municipal and Joe Public of Trinidad & Tobago).

Frankly, if either Columbus or Santos find themselves eliminated before the knockout stage begins, they'll have only themselves to blame. To find out why, read beyond the jump:

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If you know me, or read this blog regularly, or follow me on Twitter (judging from my follower numbers, this seems the least likely of the three), you know I really look forward to the CONCACAF Champions League. The CCL bears little resemblance to the much more famous UEFA Champions League, but that shouldn't stop you from watching. No other championship in our region offers the high drama that regularly unfolds in CCL play. It's not the best soccer you'll ever see, but it often provides tremendous entertainment value.

MLS is well-represented, as always. Four teams from our league made it into the group stage, and LA would have made it five if not for a shocking home performance against the Puerto Rico Islanders (in my opinion, the second-worst MLS performance in CCL history, only just beating out New England's 4-0 capitulation at home against Joe Public in qualifying for the 2008-2009 edition). Defending MLS champs Real Salt Lake got a deceptively difficult draw in Group A, while the 2009 Supporters Shield winning Columbus Crew lucked into Group B, which looks pretty forgiving.

Meanwhile, both the US and Canadian national cup champions fought their way through the CCL qualifying round. Make no mistake about the qualifying round; despite the number of unknown, oddly-named clubs littering that list, it had functioned as something of a graveyard for MLS clubs in the past (before this year, MLS had gone 1-4 at this stage of the tournament, and the only success was DC United's penalty kick tiebreaker win over El Salvador's L.A. Firpo). The Seattle Sounders, having won the 2009 US Open Cup, landed in the very tricky Group C, while Voyageur Cup holders Toronto FC find themselves in the same Group A that RSL headlines.

We'll be giving each group a thorough examination, starting with Groups A and B today, followed by C and D tomorrow. So, how do I think Group A will go? Read on...

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Hopefully, you tuned into tonight's CONCACAF Champions League match between Columbus and Toluca. Aside from being our region's top tournament, the CCL is usually rife with drama. Granted, this drama is often the result of hot-tempered players, poor officiating, or mistake-riddled play, but entertainment is entertainment. There are few more consistent sources of dramatic, incident-filled games than the CCL, which in my mind somewhat makes up for the standard of play. Sometimes when you go to the movies, you want to see dudes kicking each other more than you want to see brilliant mise en scene. The CCL is a soccer version of, say, "Die Hard" (which makes your local amateur indoor game around the level of anything ever made by Michael Bay).

With that said, I decided to sit down with a Stella and take notes on the first real game for any MLS club in 2010. My collected thoughts, written out at halftime and after the game ended (note: I was watching this off my DVR, since I didn't get back from the gym until halftime) follow the jump.

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