April 28, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Colorado Rapids News Release
371 days. That’s how long it’s been since the Rapids last suffered defeat in the MLS regular season at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park on April 24th, 2021 in the home opener to Austin FC. Since then, the Rapids have rattled off 20 consecutive matches in Commerce City without suffering a loss in the MLS regular season.
The only recent defeat at home? A cagey MLS Cup playoff match between the Rapids and Timbers on Thanksgiving Day 2021 where Portland found a late goal that defined heartbreak.
For the first time since that game, the Rapids and Timbers are going up against each other. Conventional wisdom about a match like this — when Team A gets another shot at Team B after Team B previously beat Team A — crafts a simple narrative: revenge. But it’s almost too simple, isn’t it?
Should the Rapids win Saturday, it won’t be a flag planted on new soil, and it won’t show the panoramic view of a new mountain climbed. After all, under Robin Fraser, the Rapids are 2-0-2 in the regular season against Portland. A victory won’t erase the playoff defeat.
The Timbers enter the match with one more match played and two more points accumulated. They sit just above the Rapids in the Western Conference, at ninth. Gio Savarese is still the manager but there have been some changes from Thanksgiving to today.
The biggest change was the off-season departure of Diego Valeri. The heartbeat of the Timbers from 2013-2021, he was the 2017 MLS MVP, played in three MLS Cups, winning one. Three-time MLS Best XI and four-time MLS All-Star. His production, influence and character can’t be replicated.
Despite his absence, the Timbers do still have Diego Chara, the all-time MLS career leader in fouls committed, his brother Yimmi Chara and Sebastian Blanco. The side that hosted the 2021 MLS Cup Final still has talent, experience and chemistry. Some of what makes the Timbers great can be bought at your local MLS transfer market,…
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