After sharing the five Atlanta United games I'm excited to watch this upcoming season, here are five MLS games not involving Atlanta United that I'm excited to watch:
Minnesota United at Columbus Crew, Oct. 28, 4:30 p.m. Assuming Columbus is bizarrely bound for Austin, what kind of send-off will the front office and players receive in this, their final regular season game at MAPFRE Stadium? I can understand an owner wanting to move a team if the financials are truly as bad as they seem. I can't understand an owner wanting to move a team from one college campus to another that is even more focused on college sports than the previous home. It makes no sense.
Vancouver at D.C. United, July 14, 7 p.m. This doesn't seem particularly interesting on its face, but this is supposed to be the debut of Audi Field. I stayed near the site of the stadium last summer when Atlanta United played at D.C. United. The little bit I could see then was still impressive. I hope the stadium does open on time. We all know what good hoping can do when it comes to multi-million dollar construction sites. If you aren't following Steven Goff on Twitter, do so. He will keep you updated on Audi Field and so much more.
Seattle at Toronto, May 9, 7:30 p.m. I loathe to include this on the list because it seems so obvious, but what the heck. Hey, it's a rematch of the past two MLS Cups, the first won by Seattle and the second by Toronto. Neither team has been too active in the offseason, which is probably good for Toronto and not so much for a Seattle team that didn't impress me last season.
Seattle at LAFC, April 29, 9 p.m. Another scheduled stadium debut! This time it's Banc of California Stadium, home of LAFC.
LAFC at L.A. Galaxy, March 31, 3 p.m. If this is going to be a rivalry, we will find out early in the season. The L.A. Galaxy limped through a miserable 2018 season, hurt by injuries to key players, a lack of chemistry with those that were healthy, and a mish-mash of tactics and strategies. LAFC is taking advantage of its clean slate by assembling what looks to be a strong nucleus, one that could be argued is already better than the Galaxy's.
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