With Leg 2 of the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League on the horizon, the New York Red Bulls know not to look past their MLS Home Opener against the Portland Timbers on Saturday, March 10.
Head Coach Jesse Marsch said the staff is evaluating players after Leg 1 in Tijuana on Tuesday night to determine who starts vs. Portland.
"We’ll put a good team on the field on Saturday, be prepared and ready to go after it," Marsch said. We’re evaluating where guys are at physically. We want to put a team on the field that is physically prepared, ready to go and where we’re not risking injury."
The Timbers are coming off a Week 1 home loss to the LA Galaxy.
"We’ve already started the preparation and the players know what to expect. Now we’ll have to go out on the field and play well and execute," Marsch said. "We know it will be a challenge but I think one that will be exciting for a lot of the guys who haven’t played many minutes lately – we haven’t figured out exactly who it is – but it will be fun for our team to go out and match up against them."
Portland comes in with Giovanni Savarese at the helm. Savarese made 85 appearances for the club from 1996-1998.
Marsch knows Savarese will put out a strong squad and the Red Bulls will need to be prepared.
"We’ll be ready for the upcoming schedule," Marsch said.
