So when RSL begins its playoff run against Portland on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium, it will have to contend with a team that it hasn’t beaten since September 2017 and has a 10-2 scoring advantage in the previous four matchups.
RSL will be at home, where it boasted a 12-4-1 record. On the other hand, Portland won six road games in the regular season — second-most of any Western Conference playoff team — in a year that forced the Timbers to play their first 12 games on the road due to renovations at Providence Park.
And even though Real finished third in the West and the Timber sixth, only four points separated them in the standings, making the matchup is closer that in appears.