RSL looks to keep foot on gas in final group stage game of MLS is Back tourney

Real Salt Lake has not lost a game in the entirety of the 2020 season. It recorded two draws before the COVID-19 pandemic halted the Major League Soccer season, and has come out with a win and a draw in the first two games of the MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando, Fla.

RSL will have the opportunity to stay undefeated when it plays its rival, Sporting Kansas City, on Wednesday in the final game of the tournament’s group stage. So far, Salt Lake has earned four points — it’s tied with Minnesota United — and in a good position to advance to the knockout rounds.

“So far we are doing great and we just have to keep going,” midfielder Damir Kreilach said Monday on a teleconference call with media.

RSL will be without Albert Rusnák against SKC after he suffered a left hip injury in last week’s draw against Minnesota. The designated player scored against the Colorado Rapids and is one of only two players who have recorded goals for RSL this season.

Wednesday’s game is also the final one that will count toward the regular season MLS standings. Should RSL or any other team advance past the group stage, they are then competing for a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League and a monetary prize.

Multiple scenarios exist for RSL to advance out of the group stage. If Minnesota loses against Colorado and RSL also loses, Salt Lake still goes through. RSL could take the top seed in Group D if it beats SKC. If RSL ties SKC, it still wins the group if Minnesota draws or loses.

It gets dicier for RSL If SKC wins. Minnesota could leapfrog RSL in goal differential if it loses and SKC wins. And if both Kansas City and Minnesota win, RSL finishes third and goes home.

But Real have no plans on letting that happen.

“We want as long as possible to stay unbeatable,” Kreilach said. “We are ready and all that we want is to win this game and to go forward.”

Coach Freddy Juarez said the team’s focus coming into the tournament wasn’t actually the tournament itself, but the group stage games because of the fact they count toward the regular season. He added that while the lineup may see some rotation in an effort to prevent injury, he’s still going for the win.

The only potential problem RSL might have is its lack of scoring through four games in 2020. In those games, the team has only mustered three total goals. Two have come from Kreilach, and one from Rusnák.

Part of the reason for that, Juarez said, is the unavailability of some attackers at the start of the season. Other reasons are roster turnover, not finishing the chances available in certain games, or just solid defensive performances by both RSL and its opponent.

“It’s just the way it is,” Juarez said. “We’re going to continue to grow attacking-wise. We don’t get to go buy players to score goals. We have to develop players and have a good team cohesion and we have to grind out games.”

RSL has only conceded a goal once in four games, and hasn’t let one in at all thus far in the tournament. The team’s strong defense is more indicative of RSL’s quality, Kreilach said.

“At the end of the day, in four games, to have three shutouts, it says a lot about our team,” Kreilach said. “The scoring goals, it will come in the next games as well. All under control.”