Philly Leader

Philadelphia Union has one match remaining in their Leagues Cup campaign – they will play for third place on Sunday afternoon at Subaru Park against the Colorado Rapids.

Because they fell 3-1 to Columbus Crew in the tournament’s semifinals, there won’t be a trophy on the line, but there’s still a significant prize to battle for as the winner of the Third Place Match will earn a spot in Concacaf Champions Cup next year.

Should they win on Sunday, Philadelphia Union will claim a spot in CCC for a third straight year.

Sunday is an important matchup as Philadelphia Union hasn’t faced Colorado Rapids in over a year. Their most recent meeting was in May 2023, and it finished in favor of Philly. The Union won 2-1 by way of goals from Kai Wagner and Julian Carranza, but there have been significant personnel changes for both teams since then.

This is the Colorado Rapids’ first year under Head Coach Chris Armas, who signed on after they finished 2023 at the bottom of the Western Conference standings in 14th place with just five wins total. Under his leadership, 2024 has been different. They are currently near the top of the regular season table, sitting at fourth place below only the pair of Los Angeles teams and Real Salt Lake. One of their biggest changes on the pitch has been at goalkeeper; in January, the Rapids signed Coatesville, Pennsylvania-born keeper Zack Steffen who spent four seasons at Manchester City.

During their Leagues Cup campaign, Colorado Rapids consecutively defeated four Liga MX teams to make it to the semifinals. After an initial 4-0 loss against Portland, they beat León in penalty kicks in the group stage, then took down Juárez and Toluca with decisive wins. In the quarterfinals, Rapids held Mexican powerhouse Club América scoreless through the end of regulation, sending the match to penalty kicks that finished 9-8 in favor of the MLS side. Despite their momentum, they endured another 4-0 loss, this time against LAFC on Wednesday, which sent them to the third-place game.

On that same day, Philadelphia Union fell to Columbus Crew but Head Coach Jim Curtin fielded a team without Tai Baribo who missed out on the semifinals after picking up a pair of yellow cards against Mazatlán. So far in Leagues Cup, Baribo has been one of the top scorers with five goals and he will be back in action on Sunday.

Philadelphia Union and Colorado Rapids will go head-to-head for a chance to play in Concacaf Champions Cup next year. The match is scheduled for Sunday at 4:30 pm at Subaru Park.

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