The Portland Timbers have been looking forward to April 14 for so long, the opponent almost feels irrelevant. With construction at Providence Park preventing the team’s annual preseason tournament from happening and the Timbers to spend the season’s first five games on the road, a home game, no matter the opponent, has started to feel like a panacea. Whatever problems the team’s developed during their 0-3-2 start, they can all be cured by one night at home, the thinking goes.
Forty-eight hours from now, that could all prove true. A win over second-year Minnesota United FC Saturday night (7:30pm PT, FOX 12 Oregon), no matter how, will be seen as the breakthrough this year’s squad so desperately needs.