WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Concacaf Champions League is back: Austin take on Violette at 6 pm ET, Philadelphia face Alianza at 8 pm ET and Orlando go up against Tigres at 10 pm ET. Here's how to watch and what to know.
SOME THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHILE WATCHING CCL TONIGHT
It's time for a title defense. Not from, ya know, the team that actually won the title last year for some reason, but from the world's greatest major soccer league. For the first time, an MLS team has a chance to win the Concacaf Champions League for the glory and honor of the former home of the Tampa Bay Mutiny's cyber bat and Islamico the Dallas goal celebration horse. We have come a long way. It's only a shame cyber bat and Islamico aren't around to see it.*
(*Just kidding, kids. Cyber bat is still around and works in HR. Islamico manages a hedge fund out of an office in Fort Worth.)
Anyway, there are actual CCL games tonight and MLS teams will be favored in two out of three of them. Here are a few things to keep in mind for each game.
Austin FC at Violette AC (Haiti) - 6 pm ET
WATCH ON: FS1, TUDN
- Violette AC actually have a history of success in Concacaf. The Haitian side won the 1984 Concacaf Champions Cup
- Austin are figuring things out at center back without Julio Cascante. Alexander Ring took over the spot this weekend and by all accounts did well. It might be a bigger issue down the line, but it feels like they probably have their answer at the spot for this matchup that should be winnable.
- Bad things happen to MLS teams in CCL, do not assume this is all that winnable.
- Someone is going to cite the Transfermarkt values of both these teams as proof that this is totally winnable. Do not listen to that person.
Philadelphia Union at Alianza FC - 8 p.m. ET
WATCH ON: FS1, TUDN
- The Union put out a full strength lineup on Saturday against Inter Miami. It's likely we'll see a few players rotated out of that lineup tonight. This is why the Union got all that extra depth this offseason though, right?
- Feels likely we'll see a few of the new folks tonight. That may include center back Damion Lowe, midfielder Andrés Perea and forward Joaquín Torres, all of whom were added this offseason via trades. We also might see whatever model of Aaronson we're on at the Chester, Pennsylvania Midfielder Laboratory.
- We should probably note that the Union putting out a full strength lineup on Saturday shows that they're pretty confident about this matchup and also that they wanted to make sure that they didn't lose too much ground in MLS because of this competition.
- The Union… uhh… lost anyway on Saturday because of two bangers from outside the box. Oops.
- It really does feel like the Union could be the chosen ones for MLS this year. They've got the quality, the experience and general Concacafyness to thrive in this competition. They also have a very manageable bracket until they almost certainly meet LAFC in the semifinal.
- Those are some high expectations, kind of feels like they might lose just because we said that out loud.
- I would like to formally apologize to the Philadelphia Union for saying that out loud.
Orlando City at Tigres UANL - 10 p.m. ET
WATCH ON: FS2, TUDN
- Tigres won this whole thing in 2020. This is going to be a tough one.
- Orlando City are the only MLS team to draw a Liga MX team in the Round of 16.
- For a team trying to integrate a handful of new pieces, that kind of seems like a raw deal.
- The Lions did rotate on Saturday. But, even still, it feels somewhat fair to point out that they haven't deviated too much from last year's format. They've grinded (and I mean grinded) to earn four points over their first two MLS games. That means they've played solid defensively, that means they've gotten the job done, and that also means they've created next to nothing in attack.
- Asking the new pieces and the attack as a whole to click in a CCL road trip against one of Liga MX's best teams is a really, really big ask.
- That being said, Orlando did just fine grinding out results in the US Open Cup last year. Yeah, this is a different level. But Oscar Pareja's Lions know how to win even when they're not at their best. If any MLS team were to go into CCL and just, like, mess up the natural order of things and leave a Liga MX powerhouse wondering "Wait, how did we lose that?" I think it might be this Orlando team.
- That's right, gut call this morning that might just be the caffeine finally kicking in. I'm calling it now: Orlando get the job done and move onto the next round and no one really knows how. It's going to be hilarious.
- Or, ya know, they lose by five. Look, CCL is really, really hard.
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Good luck out there. It doesn't have to be perfect to count.
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