COMMERCE CITY, Colo. —The Colorado Rapids (0-0-0, 0 pts.) hit the road for their first Leagues Cup group stage match against Portland Timbers (1-0-0, 3 pts.) on Thursday night. Kickoff at Providence Park is set for 8:30 p.m. MT (Apple TV – MLS Season Pass, Altitude Sports Radio 950AM).
The match will be Colorado’s first Leagues Cup match in 2024, with Portland already having started group play against Club León this Sunday. Those three sides make up Group E in the tournament, which was determined by a ranking system based on every club's points in the 34 regular-season matches of 2023. Based on these point totals, teams were split into three tiers, with one team from each tier being placed in every group.
In group play, if a match is won in regulation, the victor receives three points, while the loser gets zero. If a match ends in a draw, it will go straight to a penalty shootout, with the winning team claiming two points and the losing team a single point (no ties). More information on the tournament can be found here.
Colorado will be entering Leagues Cup fresh off a trophy victory in their most recent match against Real Salt Lake. The Rapids took home the 2024 Rocky Mountain Cup for the first time since 2020 following an intense match against their bitter rivals. Jonathan Lewis, Sam Vines, and Cole Bassett all made their way onto the scoresheet, with Bassett scoring the match winner in the match’s dying moments. The Rapids Homegrown calmly converted a penalty to put his side up 3-2 and lift the Rocky Mountain Cup.
In Portland’s first Leagues Cup matchup, a Zac McGraw goal just before halftime had the two sides level at 1-1 for a majority of the match, until the Timbers found a breakthrough in the 90th minute. McGraw found the back of the net yet again to secure all three points for his club in a crucial group-stage match.
Thursday’s matchup will be the second time that these two sides have faced off this year, with the first being the season opening match in MLS for both Portland and Colorado. The Timbers got the better of the Rapids in that one, with Eryk Williamson and Antony scoring to open their season with a victory at Providence Park. Calvin Harris logged the only goal for Colorado in the match.
Bassett will be heading into this tournament in the midst of a scorching hot run of form. Following his late-game heroics against Salt Lake, the midfielder has now recorded six goal contributions in his last four matches with three goals and three assists. The recent stretch for the midfielder has set his single-season career highs in both goals and assists, as he currently sits at nine goals and six assists in 2024.
Colorado will be without Djordje Mihailovic, Kimani Stewart-Baynes and Adam Beaudry who are all out on international duty.
