FC Dallas, Real Salt Lake open with high expectations
Both Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas missed the MLS playoffs last season, and the two sides look to make sure that was an anomaly and not the norm when they square off Saturday at Toyota Stadium in the north Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas to begin their respective 2018 campaigns.
FC Dallas won just two of its final 15 matches and missed the postseason for the first time in four years under coach Oscar Pareja. Dallas' two victories in that span were tied with Orlando and the LA Galaxy for the fewest by any club in MLS but Pareja said the end of last season is not an indicator of struggles to come.
"Whether you have success or not, every year is a new one," Pareja said. "We were at the top of the league for six or seven months and then we just didn't play to our expectations at the close of the year. We think we have that behind us now and are looking to getting back to where we belong."
But FC Dallas anxiety level is still on high, especially after the sides' disappointing display in the CONCACAF Champions League, bowing out this week in the Round of 16 to Panamanian team Tauro FC. It's a reminder of what the team went through last season.
Dallas will also have Mauro Diaz available for a full season after missing a big chunk of last year as he tried to come back from an Achilles injury. Midfielder Kellyn Acosta will be sidelined for up to two months for FCD with a sports hernia.
Real Salt Lake will begin its first full season with coach Mike Petke at the helm. He helped the franchise become one of the hottest teams in the league after taking over for the second half of the season.
RSL ended the 2017 as one of the league's' hottest squads, winning eight matches from July 4 on. Petke has assembled group of veterans and great young talent to try to push the team forward and back into the playoffs.
The squad also includes 15 players aged 24 and younger, and several of those players are expected to start on opening day. One of those players, 20-year-old defender Justen Glad, is looking forward to what this season has to offer.
"We know what Mike wants," Glad said. "We know what he expects, and now we can deliver."
FC Dallas has won six of its past nine matches against Real Salt Lake and swept last year's two-game series by an aggregate of 9-2. Dallas has won 14 of its 16 home matches all-time over RSL and has won six straight MLS openers, the longest streak in league history.
--Field Level Media
