Real Salt Lake will host LA Galaxy on Saturday, November 7, at America First Field in Sandy with its season on the line. A win keeps the club alive for the playoffs, but it does not finish the job on its own.
That is why LA Galaxy and Marco Reus are coming to Sandy for a Decision Day game that matters far beyond one result. Real Salt Lake needs all three points, and it also needs at least one of Portland, Colorado or Seattle to draw or lose. If Minnesota wins, then all three of those teams must lose for Real Salt Lake to stay in the hunt.
The numbers explain the squeeze. Colorado, Portland and Seattle each enter the final weekend on 43 points, one point ahead of Real Salt Lake. All three would lose the tiebreaker to Real Salt Lake because it has as many or more wins and a better goal differential, so the table can still swing if Saturday goes the right way.
There is still a path to a familiar finish if the results break correctly. If Real Salt Lake beats LA Galaxy and one of the teams above it slips, the club would reach the postseason for a West-best sixth straight year, the eighth time in the last nine seasons and the 16th time in the last 19 campaigns. If Portland, Colorado and Seattle all lose at 5:00 p.m. MT and Real Salt Lake wins, it could even climb as high as seventh in the West.
The pressure in Sandy is simple: Real Salt Lake can do its part and still be left waiting on the rest of the Western Conference. That is the edge in Decision Day, and it is the part the home crowd cannot control.
The next answer comes on Saturday night, when Major League Soccer announces the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs Wild Card Round matchups. If Real Salt Lake gets through, the postseason map quickly takes shape from there, with Round One set to be announced on Sunday, November 8 and the first legs scheduled for November 21 and 22.
If the club keeps playing, the reward will be immediate and difficult. It would go away to Vancouver or the No. 2 seed, then return home on Thanksgiving Weekend if it advances further. For Real Salt Lake, Saturday is the kind of game that can extend a season or end it at the final whistle.
