The Major League Soccer season opened with a bang Sunday, with all 20 teams in action in 10 games. Orlando City led all clubs with a crowd of 60,147 – the fifth highest attendance in the world over the weekend. The league-wide average of 26,152 fans put MLS sixth in the world for the weekend, ahead of the French, Italian, and Dutch leagues, among others. And the action on the field didn’t disappoint: 36 total goals, no scoreless ties, eight multi-goal games, some lovely play, and dramatic finishes. Once again, Orlando led the way, with not one, but two stoppage-time tallies to snatch an improbable tie with Salt Lake.
That all came days after the midweek drubbing by Liga MX in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, as all four MLS entrants lost to Mexican teams by multi-goal margins. The semifinals kick off March 15-16, with Querétaro hosting Tigres on Tuesday, and Santos Laguna hosting Club América in Torreon on Wednesday, both at 9pm. Return legs are on Tuesday, April 5, with the two-leg final April 20 and 27. The Champions League winner gets to play in the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan at the end of the year. See the complete schedule at www.concacaf.com.
Half of the European Champions League quarterfinal field is set, as Real Madrid, Wolfsburg, Benfica, and Paris St. Germain all advanced this week. The other four will be decided next Tue.-Wed., March 15-16, with all games shown live on Fox Sports 1 & 2 – at 2:45pm this week, after daylight saving time has started here, but not in Europe.
San Antonio FC now has both season tickets and single-game tickets on sale, as they continue to build toward the season opener April 3 in Seattle, and the home opener April 9, in their inaugural season in USL. See more info at www.uslsanantonio.com.
This article appears in March 11 • 2016.