MLS gave bye weeks to its three teams competing in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals: Sounders FC, Houston and Los Angeles.
Seattle’s opponent, Tigres UANL, was not afforded that same luxury by Liga MX and had to travel to last-place San Luis on Saturday.
Tigres won, 2-1, behind goals by Lucas Lobos and Luis Garcia. But more important from a Sounders’ perspective, the team started nine of the same 11 players who started against Seattle in Wednesday’s first leg in Monterrey. See below.
Tigres starters vs. the Sounders — GK Enrique Palos, D Israel Jimenez, D Juninho, D Hugo Ayala, D Jorge Torres Nilo, M Carlos Salcido, M Jose Francisco Torres, M Elias Hernandez, M Alberto Acosta, M Lucas Lobos, F Luis Garcia
Tigers starters vs. San Luis — GK Enrique Palos, D Israel Jimenez, D Juninho, D Hugo Ayala, D Jorge Torres Nilo, M Carlos Salcido, M Jose Francisco Torres, M Alan Pulido, M Danilinho, M Lucas Lobos, F Luis Garcia.
So heading into Tuesday’s second leg at CenturyLink Field, many of those Tigres starters will have to deal with playing three games over seven days, plus travel, plus turf, etc.
Something to keep an eye on. Let’s get to some links:
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— I know people are starving for Obafemi Martins updates. Here’s a recent story from Spain reiterating the situation as we know it: Martins wants to come to Seattle, the Sounders want Martins, Levante UD is hoping to keep him until June, and there’s always that reported buyout clause of a $4 million.
— Also, Martins’ stomach issues reported a couple day ago appear to still be an issue as he was left out of the squad for today’s La Liga game against Getafe. Levante is insisting the ailment is legitimate. The team concludes its UEFA Europa League Round of 16 matchup against Rubin Kazan on Thursday in Russia.
— All the goals from Saturday’s MLS action have been grouped onto one page.
— One interesting read from a couple days ago tackled the question: “Can you call yourself a U.S. Soccer fan if you don’t support MLS?”
— Here’s a fascinating piece from MLSsoccer.com looking at how the league compares to other in Europe in certain stats like goals/game, shots/game, shots/goal, passing accuracy, passes in attacking third, etc.
— Very cool video from D.C. United on the simple beauty of lining the field. Plus, Chris Pontius tried his hand at being a weatherman.
— Over in New York, Grant Wahl has some leftovers notes from his work on a feature story. And coach Mike Petke had some interesting comments for his Portland counterpart following their Week 1 contest.
— Around the league, Toronto FC made another big acquisition, here’s a long piece on Pablo Mastroeni, and the Colorado-Philadelphia game was rescheduled from Saturday to today due to weather.
— USMNT goalkeeper Tim Howard is going to be out a while with a back injury, meaning Brad Guzan is likely to assume a starring role in upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
— Though did you see Brad Friedel is open to coming out of international retirement if needed?
— Elsewhere, add Fabian Johnson to the list of injured U.S. internationals.
— There was more horrible news out of Egypt.
— And lastly, might a June 8 game between the Sounders and Whitecaps be moved to a late game? And at full capacity? It’s currently scheduled for 1 p.m. See below…