At a crucial juncture for the Club on the continent, Saturday night’s debacle in San Jose further accentuates the need for a positive result on Wednesday. Indeed, for the faithful at least, nothing else will do
Welcome back to Storylines.
The Champions Cup returns to Utah this week and with it, perhaps, lies a chance at atonement, or at the very least the beginning of one, for Pablo Mastroeni’s men. And indeed, so early yet in the competitive season, few teams need that opportunity more.
All transgressions, in fairness, do require some form of redress, and, in truth, Saturday night’s fiasco in San Jose – or more particularly the manner of it – necessitates that RSL provide a compelling one this week.
In yet another quickly congested fixture week, RSL welcomes Herediano to America First Field for the return leg of both sides’ CONCACAF Champions Cup Round One series on Wednesday, for the honor of progressing through to the Round of 16 and hosting reigning MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy next Wednesday, March 5.
A grueling opening week for the Claret-and-Cobalt compounded by a disappointing MLS road opener capitulation boldly underscores the importance of a positive result in this midweek fixture, at home and in front of the undying Riot faithful.
The stakes have scarcely ever been higher, not in the preceding decade at least. A reckoning on the continent’s grandest stage – perform or make peace with the enduring consequences of a lack thereof. The Champions Cup – if the evidence of the past decade isn’t convincing enough already – is an opportunity that scarcely comes around very often.
Storylines brings you some crucial narratives to ponder ahead of Wednesday’s continental showdown in Sandy.
A Much Too Early Quest for Atonement: Defensive Solidity, Attacking Ruthlessness Required
At the end of RSL’s friendly 1-1 draw with St. Louis CITY SC earlier this month in the club’s Coachella Valley Invitational preseason series, head coach Mastroeni, speaking to the press, lamented his side's lack of ruthless edge at both ends of the pitch, citing the need for the team to “improve in both boxes,” explaining;
“I think from 18 to 18, on offense and defense, we've been really good and that allows you to control games, but [ultimately] the game is won and lost inside both boxes…
“... So we’re a lot further along than we were this time last year, but an area that we need to continue to improve is our defending close to goal. We’re making too many poor decisions that have, in these first three games [of preseason], forced us to chase the game from behind. And [when that happens], it’s very difficult to build momentum when you’re always having to make up for some poor decisions in and around goals.”
Saturday night, then, would’ve felt like Groundhog Day for the RSL manager, and not the pleasant kind – further evidence of his latter concession, and a reinforcement of all the things he most certainly would not have wanted to see.
The weekend’s domestic opener against San Jose was supposed to represent a positive mini-flashpoint for the club – an unshackling from its impressive 2024 campaign to make room for a new glorious era, highlighted by a contest against its former captain – who reigned at the heart of it – as a symbol of this new crucial juncture in the club’s history.
Instead, it was the complete opposite.
RSL’s defensive fragility was laid bare on an especially unforgiving evening at PayPal Park as Bruce Arena’s Earthquakes inflicted a first defeat for the Claret-and-Cobalt in domestic opening day meetings between the two sides at the fourth time of asking.
Justly speaking, however, perhaps the full-time score fails to paint an accurate enough picture of the complete 90 minutes. Mastroeni’s men did, to their credit, begin the contest marginally on the stronger foot before falling behind midway through the first half slightly against the run of play.
Then, following an improved opening second-half showing as the team chased a way back into the match, a collective lack of concentration and sense of rearguard urgency on the visitors’ part all conspired to bring about an eventual battering, conceding three goals in a short 15-minute second-half burst, adding further credence to Mastroeni’s preseason declaration.
A 4-0 defeat is tormenting enough under any normal circumstances during a regular, more mature game week, much less the season’s opening one, and, as America First Field prepares to host its first Champions Cup match in nine years, the onus now falls on Mastroeni and the team to gather themselves up and make a statement at home on Wednesday night.
It’s a two-pronged conundrum – shoring up the defense whilst also finding ways to maximize its attacking opportunities and output. As loudly as the amount of goals conceded might ring in the headlines, RSL have now gone two successive games without scoring for only the second time since May 2023 – this coming on the back of a 2024 season where it recorded the most single-season goals scored in club history (65). Although, granted the team is now without its three top goal scorers from last season, a solution needs to be found, and quickly.
Indeed, it becomes especially imperative, as well, with CONCACAF having mandated the away goal rule for the Champions Cup this season. RSL being held to a goalless draw in Costa Rica means that any goal conceded in Sandy on Wednesday automatically increases the scale of the goalscoring task required. Concede one and require two to progress, concede two and require three, and so forth – a continental reckoning. If the stakes weren’t high already, they undoubtedly are now.
Mastroeni’s teams are generally known for their resilience and positive reaction to adversity — a pertinent trait, evident by only 10 occasions of back-to-back losses in Mastroeni’s 141 games coached with RSL all-time — it is difficult to think of a greater time when such type of mentality will be needed than the one this team currently finds itself in.
Perhaps only lightheartedly related, but across the Atlantic, REAL Madrid completed their daunting task of ousting opponents Manchester City at home in last Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League clash at the Santiago Bernabéu in Spain. REAL Salt Lake – the continental baton now passes to us.
Player Rotations Will Be Key in This Period
With only two days in between to return from Costa Rica and prepare for Saturday’s MLS opener in California, Mastroeni made a total of seven changes to the starting XI which began the first leg of the Champions Cup matchu for the League game at PayPal Park.
Defenders Javain Brown, Justen Glad, and Philip Quinton, alongside midfielders Nelson Palacio, Pablo Ruiz, Tyler Wolff, and 2024 Young Player of the Year Diego Luna were all drafted into Sataurday’s starting lineup, with Mastroeni eager to manage his players’ workload and casting an eye on Wednesday’s crucial continental decider.
With a highly-congested opening competitive, and potentially prolonged, fixture schedule, player rotations and revolvements are set to be key as Mastroeni and Co. tackle the double-edged hurdle in search of both domestic and continental success.
With most of the starters from last Wednesday’s first leg either rested or only given a minimal part to play on Saturday, Mastroeni is expected to have a mostly fit and ready XI raring to go come midweek, which could come especially crucial against a Herediano side which battled to a come-from-behind victory with several star players in their Costa Rican Liga FPD clash on Saturday.
Winger Dominik Marczuk, alongside midfielder Lachlan Brook and defender Kobi Henry, were the only three outfield players from last Wednesday’s Champions Cup first leg to not have played a single minute on Saturday, leaving them fresh and firing for this week’s decider. All three will be expected to be named in the starting XI, or at the very least contribute significantly on Wednesday.
Across the squad, defenders Brayan Vera, Bode Hidalgo, and Sam Junqua, along with midfielders Emeka Eneli and Diogo Gonçalves will all also be physically raring to go, having all been rested from the start and handed only a bit part role on Saturday. Midfielder Diego Luna was unavailable for the first leg completely in Costa Rica and, despite lasting the full 90 against San Jose, should be available for contention in what is sure to be a crucial clash.
The season remains yet in its infancy, for the time being, but opportunities like the CONCACAF Champions Cup rarely come around too often. The stage is set for a landmark continental night at America First Field – RSL, in front of an adoring Riot, only need seize it.
