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Sandy • It should come as no surprise that Kyle Beckerman is already thinking about the preseason. The Real Salt Lake captain has good reason to. While RSL will miss out on MLS Cup playoff action for the first time since 2007, the club advanced out of group play in CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday night.

The start to 2016 will be a little earlier.

"I think it's just big for us moving forward in starting to rebuild this club," Beckerman said.

The 1-0 victory over Guatemalan club Municipal cemented RSL's unbeaten run in Group G. The knockout rounds await RSL and three other MLS clubs: the L.A. Galaxy, D.C. United and Seattle Sounders. The eight-team quarterfinal round is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks and will likely feature the four MLS franchises and four from Mexico's LigaMX.

The dates for the two-leg series will be between Feb. 23 and March 3 next winter.

By advancing in Champions League and missing the MLS postseason, RSL will receive double the allocation money it usually does. The league rewards clubs who advance in Champions League with allocation money. Ditto for organizations that don't qualify for the playoffs. Meaning general manager Craig Waibel has a hefty stash of cash to upgrade the roster between now and late February.

If RSL and its fan base went in search for a silver lining to 2015, Tuesday night's group-stage clinch was it. Jamison Olave's header in the 43rd minute secured advancement and likely a decent seed in the next round.

"You're in the quarters and you're technically six games away from winning a championship," RSL coach Jeff Cassar said. "We have our eyes on something at the beginning of next year. I think that's going to help everyone — not get over this year — but really start to focus on next year on a positive note."

Of the several challenges facing RSL this offseason, Beckerman noted that finding form in late January or early February will be difficult ahead of the quarterfinal series.

"Everything's amped up a little bit in the preseason," he said. "That's the way it will be. We'll just be getting after it right from the beginning. We can't ease into things."

Awaiting RSL in the quarterfinal stages are the best teams in Mexico, or possibly an MLS rival. Quarterfinal matches are based on group-stage records and thusly seeded 1 through 8. According to MLS, depending on remaining results in group play, RSL could finish anywhere from third to fifth in quarterfinal seeding.

"Now that we're out of the playoffs, we really needed this, so now we can start to move forward," Beckerman said.

Twitter: @chriskamrani —

CONCACAF Champions League

Group stage winners

Group A • Santos Laguna (Mexico): 3-1-0, 9 points

Group B • Tigres (Mexico) or CS Herediano (Costa Rica)*

Group C • Querétaro (Mexico): 2-1-1, 7 points

Group D • L.A. Galaxy (U.S.): 2-0-1, 7 points*

Group E • Club América (Mexico): 3-1-0, 10 points

Group F • Seattle Sounders (U.S.): 2-1-1, 7 points

Group G • Real Salt Lake (U.S.): 3-0-1, 10 points

Group H • D.C. United (U.S.): 3-0-1, 10 points

*Tigres, CS Herediano and L.A. Galaxy all have Champions League group finales Wednesday night