Club: Columbus Crew (USA)
Founded: 1996
City: Columbus, Ohio
Stadium: Columbus Crew Stadium
Manager: Robert Warzycha
Qualification method: MLS Supporters' Shield winner
Previous Champions League appearances: (1) 2009-2010
Honors: USA league - 1 (2008); U.S. Open Cup - 1 (2002).
Official Web site: http://www.thecrew.com

Making their second straight Champions League appearance, the Crew was the only team from Major League Soccer to advance past the group stage in 2009-2010. Led by veterans such as Argentine midfielder Guillermo Barros Schelotto - playing his third season with the club in 2010 -- and former U.S. national team defender Frankie Hejduk, the squad also boasts U.S. internationals Chad Marshall and Robbie Rogers. The club is one of the founding members of MLS, owned by the Hunt family - whose former patriarch Lamar Hunt was one of pioneering figures in American soccer in the past half century. Lamar Hunt died in 2006, leaving the operation of Hunt Sports Group - which also owns fellow MLS club FC Dallas -- to his son Clark. Crew Stadium is a favorite home for the U.S. national team, having played their eight times since it opened in 2000. The Americans have never lost at the 20,455-seat facility - winning five and drawing the other three while allowing only one goal - and has become the site of their quadrennial World Cup qualifying clash against Mexico.