Austin FC players and coaches understand where they’re at.
A year ago today, a Verde team that finished second in the West clinched its first-ever playoff berth thanks to a well-timed hat trick from Moussa Djitte to turn a 0-0 fretfest (following a three-match losing streak) into a 3-0 win.
This year’s edition of Verde, winless since July 15 — though a few lengthy breaks make that sound worse than it is — is nowhere near clinching a playoff spot.
When 10th-place Austin hosts 11th-place Portland on Sunday night (7:55 p.m. kickoff, on FS1 and Apple TV), both teams will start the night out of the playoff places, but the winner of this match very well could vault themselves firmly into the postseason mix on the backs of the loser.
“I think every game matters at this point, as it should,” said Austin FC defender Jon Gallagher, whose All-Star campaign has been one of the bright spots of a strange and still unreconciled 2023 season. “And that's how MLS is most seasons.”
