Wasatch Soccer Sentinel
Before we get to the player ratings, I think we need to talk about this game and about CONCACAF Champions Cup.
In 2014, Real Salt Lake qualified for the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League. It’s the last time this team played in the competition, and they came up against an extremely dominant Tigres. In 2012, RSL appeared again, losing out in the weird three-team group stage to CS Herediano. In 2011, the team lost what still remains the biggest match in their history, losing to Monterrey in a fiercely contested two-legged affair.
We have waited nearly a decade to watch Real Salt Lake in this competition, and it’s hard to overstate just how poor they were. The team wasn’t ready, the roster wasn’t ready, and the club management wasn’t ready. We’ve been waiting to play important soccer, and this was a golden opportunity. And while I think Mastroeni shoulders some of the blame for this match and the players shoulder some blame for this match, the front office shoulders the some of the share, too. Real Salt Lake went into the season without a striker of even an MLS-average level. It’s inexcusable, especially when they knew months ago that Chicho Arango would be leaving and when Elias Manoel failed to report for preseason — that was over a month ago. Champions Cup was right here, and the club has completely squandered it.
