Major League Soccer‘s playoffs have a new twist this season: the opening spherical can be a best-of-three series.
As a outcome, there’s the potential for 24 first-round playoff video games.
There have been combined emotions in regards to the new format among the many gamers.
“I think it’s an interesting new model that they’ve come up with, I don’t know what the reasoning is behind it,” Vancouver Whitecaps striker Brian White mentioned. “It’s similar to a lot of the other sports in American culture, baseball, basketball, hockey, where they have these multi-games series. Hopefully it brings more eyes to the league, more attention.
“Looking ahead to this new expertise.”
LAFC‘s Carlos Vela, who has been within the league for six seasons, was not essentially a fan.
“I do not perceive,” Vela said. “What is the purpose of three video games within the first spherical? And after that, three extra video games to win the championships. I do not know precisely what they’re pondering.”
The playoffs can be lacking the league’s high draw, Inter Miami‘s Lionel Messi. Miami, which finished second-to-last in the Eastern Conference and out of the playoffs, is instead expected to head to China in early November for the team’s first international tour.
The 16-team area was set after a pair of play-in video games Wednesday.
The New York Red Bulls defeated Charlotte, 5-2, within the Eastern Conference’s play-in match and can face top-seeded Cincinnati at TQL Stadium on Sunday. The series will move to Red Bull Arena on Nov. 4, then back to Cincinnati for a third game, if necessary.
Sporting Kansas City superior within the Western Conference play-in on penalties after a scoreless draw with the San Jose Earthquakes. Sporting will face enlargement St. Louis, the West’s high seed, on Sunday at CITYPARK.
There’s another new wrinkle this season. If the games are tied in regulation, they will go straight to penalties rather than extra-time periods.
The conference semifinals and finals will be single-elimination, reverting to extra time before going to penalties in the event of a draw.
The games will start Saturday and go until Nov. 12. The conference semifinals are set for Nov. 25-26, with the conference finals played Dec. 2-3. The MLS Cup final will take place on Dec. 9, played at the home of the team that collected more points in the regular season.
East
Cincinnati won the Supporters’ Shield for best regular-season performance with 69 points. The team finished in last place for three straight seasons after joining MLS as an expansion team in 2019. Last year, Cincinnati finished with the No. 5 seed and advanced to the conference semifinals before losing to Philadelphia.
Coach Pat Noonan said pressure is on the team in the playoffs — in a good way — after winning the Shield.
“It ought to really feel like extra strain. You’ve received a trophy already and so folks, groups will have a look at that and say, the expectation is to go and do it once more. That’s our expectation in our pursuit of successful one other trophy. So it ought to really feel a little totally different,” Noonan said. “That’s OK. These guys have stepped up all 12 months.”
The East’s second seed, Orlando City, will host No. 7 Nashville. Third-seeded Columbus will play No. 6 Atlanta, and fourth-seeded Philadelphia will host No. 5 New England.
Philadelphia and New England kick issues off Saturday at Subaru Park in Chester.
West
St. Louis City had already clinched the top seed in the Western Conference, becoming the first expansion team to claim the top spot in league history. But, City fell a point short of LAFC’s expansion record for points (57) after a 2-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders on Decision Day.
City’s first-round opponent, Sporting Kansas City, became the first MLS team to make the playoffs after going winless in the first 10 games of the regular season.
“I do not suppose there are lots of different groups on this league who may begin a season like that and switch it round the way in which now we have,” Kansas City captain Johnny Russell mentioned. “Obviously, we do not need to begin the season like that, however I feel it simply reveals the character of each single particular person on this staff that we’re capable of flip that round.”
The West’s second seed, Seattle, will host No. 7 Dallas in the opening round. Third-seeded LAFC will host the No. 6 Vancouver Whitecaps, and fourth-seeded Houston will host Real Salt Lake.
The first match in the West will be Vancouver at LAFC on Saturday. The two teams also played to a 1-1 draw on Decision Day, which means they could potentially play each other four straight times if their first-round series goes to three games.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
MLS
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