Hoping for no Champions hangover in MLS opener
The CONCACAF Champions League hasn’t always been a springboard to MLS success. Despite the mettle it takes to advance deep into the competition, many teams that have excelled have done so at the expense of their form in the league.
Jim Curtin is aware of that, from his experience as a player and his observations as a coach. And he’s thought plenty of what it will take for the Philadelphia Union to avoid that in the weeks (he hopes, months) that come.
“I think it’s physical and mental,” Curtin said Friday via Zoom. “But where I think our league has taken steps forward is that the fitness of the individual athletes and the way that they take care of their bodies in the offseason improved so much. So there’s definitely examples of that Champions League hangover you would call it where it leads to bad seasons and it tends to be the deeper you go in the competition, maybe the more it affects you. But I think what you saw specific to this season so far, I think that the games were managed really well by the MLS teams.”
The hangovers have been very real in the past. The Montreal Impact, made the 2015 final in April but never recaptured that form in a middling season. Toronto FC lost to Chivas de Guadalajara in the 2018 final and just never got going in MLS, missing the playoffs after winning MLS Cup the previous year.
In their first MLS test as continent winners, the Union are on level terms. Both the Union and Columbus are coming off midweek exertions in CONCACAF Champions League. The Union beat Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa, 4-0, Wednesday night to advance 5-0 on aggregate. The Crew handled Nicaragua’s Real Esteli, 1-0, in the second leg in Ohio Thursday to advance, again 5-0 on aggregate.
Curtin isn’t worried much about any short-term ramifications. More enlivening is the opener’s status as a national-television date and a de facto MLS super cup that pits last year’s Supporters’ Shield winners against the MLS Cup holders. Curtin sees it as a benefit to have had two games to work out the kinks.
“Both teams will be a little sharper because we had the opportunity to play a live elimination game,” Curtin said. “I think both teams have injuries that will weaken their group, which is a part of any season.”
The Crew lost offseason signing Kevin Molino for six to eight weeks. Aidan Morris, a young and promising midfielder, appears to have sustained a serious knee injury against Esteli.
The Union will be without Cory Burke and Ilsinho, who Curtin hopes will return to training next week. Jack de Vries remains in concussion protocol. Sergio Santos, who played 15 minutes against Saprissa, is a full go.
The Union hope that the mindset that served them well against Saprissa can carry over seamlessly to Columbus.
“For me, I think for everybody, I think it’s just the same challenge,” midfielder Jamiro Monteiro said. “It’s just the next game. Every game is important. It doesn’t matter against who you’re playing. We just need to look at ourselves, do our thing and see what we need to do good and what we need to do better.”