PORTLAND, Ore. – Had the Portland Timbers been in a different situation, perhaps they could be approaching Tuesday’s CONCACAF Champions League game against Olimpia at Providence Park (10 pm ET; Fox Sports 1) with a bit more aggression.
Maybe if they weren’t, say, also preparing for their biggest MLS game of the season at home Saturday against the Vancouver Whitecaps (8 pm ET; NBCSN), the team a point ahead of them for the fifth and final MLS Cup Playoff spot in the Western Conference, they wouldn’t have to worry so much about who to play and who to sit.
But the reality is, Portland will want every first-choice option available for Saturday’s showdown that will likely go a long way toward deciding whether they advance to the postseason for the second consecutive season.
“The priority, if there is a priority, is the league and getting to the playoffs, so we’re not going to sacrifice that with getting out of Champions League,” Timbers head coach Caleb Porter said before his team played the Colorado Rapids to a 2-2 away draw on Saturday. “But we’ve managed our season in a way where we’ve rotated our squad and have had some success doing that. And we’re going to need to do that.”
So Portland will have to face Honduran champion Olimpia with a mostly reserve squad, but that doesn’t necessarily mean players who never see first-team minutes.
By simply by looking at who didn’t start against the Rapids, Portland won’t be short on options.
Those players will likely include their leading scorer Maximiliano Urruti (nine goals), who came off the bench to assist on Gaston Fernandez’s late equalizer against Colorado. Fernandez (seven goals) also came off the bench in that game.
“I think it says a lot about their buy-in and overall attitude,” Porter said of his team’s depth. “A lot of guys on teams, when they're not playing or starting, they mope, and then when they go into the game, they don't perform well. I think it says a lot about the attitude of our entire team.”
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If Porter opts to play Urruti against Vancouver that would likely mean Designated Player Fanendo Adi would start at striker against Olimpia.
Other likely candidates to start Tuesday are outside back mainstays Michael Harrington and Jack Jewsbury, who have recently been supplanted on the backline by youngsters Alvas Powell and Jorge Villafana. Team captain and midfielder Will Johnosn will also start, Porter said, after sitting out against Colorado following the birth last week of his second child.
Porter is not only looking at managing two games this week but also their next CCL game Sept. 23 against Alpha United, who have been all but eliminated from the tournament after losing twice to Olimpia and in their first game against the Timbers last month.
Porter said Tuesday’s game against Olimpia and their return meeting Oct. 21 in Honduras will likely decide who comes out of Group 5.
“You have to look at, really, the next two weeks,” Porter said. “…We still think we can win in the next two Champions League games by rotating our squad.”
Dan Itel covers the Timbers for MLSsoccer.com.
