RSL draws rivals Sporting KC and Colorado as MLS reveals groupings for Orlando tournament

Maybe fate does exist.

Real Salt Lake just happened to draw its two biggest rivals for the group stage of the MLS Is Back Tournament. RSL was joined by Sporting Kansas City, the Colorado Rapids and Minnesota United in Group D, where RSL holds the top seed.

RSL has a complicated history with SKC, which beat Salt Lake in the 2013 MLS Cup. The two teams have had a bitter rivalry ever since.

In the case of Colorado, RSL faces the Rapids twice a season in what’s dubbed the Rocky Mountain Cup. RSL has won the majority of those matchups.

“It’s a tough group,” RSL coach Freddy Juarez said on the live broadcast after the draw. “Rivalries with Colorado, with Sporting. And then Minnesota is a very, very good group.”

RSL went 4-1-1 against SKC, Colorado and Minnesota combined in 2019. Its only loss was to MUFC, which beat Salt Lake 3-1 in September. RSL also drew 1-1 against Minnesota last July.

SKC, Minnesota and Colorado all won both of their games in 2020 before the season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But that might not be a big enough sample size.

Neither Colorado or SKC made the playoffs last season, RSL and Minnesota did. Real finished third in the Western Conference — its highest berth in recent years — while Minnesota was right behind at fourth.

But RSL lucked out of the so-called Group of Death. That moniker might be reserved for Group F, which houses LAFC, the L.A. Galaxy, the Houston Dynamo and the Portland Timbers. LAFC won the Supporters Shield in 2019 after massing 72 points, and the Galaxy and Timbers both made the playoffs. Houston finished 10th last season.

The Galaxy lost Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the offseason, but brought in Liga MX star Javier “Chicharito" Hernández. The Timbers are solid every season, having last won the MLS Cup title in 2015.

Speaking of titles, the defending champion Seattle Sounders may have gotten off easy. They’re the top seed in Group B, which has the San Jose Earthquakes and Vancouver Whitecaps, neither of which made the playoffs in 2019. Furthermore, the Whitecaps were the worst team in the West last year.

FC Dallas did make the playoffs, but features a roster of younger players. The Sounders eliminated Dallas from the postseason last year — but barely. That might be Seattle’s toughest game.

While NYCFC had the best record last season, Toronto made it to the MLS Cup title game against Seattle. Toronto is in Group C with two playoff teams and the Montreal Impact.

But Atlanta United won the MLS Cup championship in 2018 and went undefeated in two games of the 2020 season. Atlanta’s group has FC Cincinnati, the New York Red Bulls and Columbus Crew. New York and Columbus each have won a game in 2020.

Teams in five of the six groups all play each other once within their own group. But because one of the Eastern Conference groups (A) has six teams instead of four, it’s a little different.

Group A will shake out as follows: Orlando and Philadelphia will each play Inter Miami, NYCFC and Nashville SC. Inter Miami, NYCFC and Nashville will play Orlando, Philadelphia and Chicago.

The schedule for the tournament is yet to be announced.

Juarez said no one should count out RSL in the tournament.

“We’re a competitive group,” Juarez said. “We’re a tight-knit group. We’re a group that’s been improving in the last four years, every year. So we know what we have. We know what we are. And we have a chip on our shoulder that we want to go and compete against anyone in MLS. That’s the mindset of the whole group.”