HOUSTON – The Portland Timbers, after earning the top spot in the Western Conference in the regular season to get the bye into the Western Conference Semifinals, are locked in for the first leg against the Houston Dynamo on Monday night (6:30pm PT, FS1). After arriving on Saturday, the team wrapped up a training session in Houston on Sunday afternoon feeling good ahead of Monday’s match.
The Timbers come into Houston unbeaten in five of their last six matches against the Dynamo, though the postseason presents a new challenge. Portland will play two games against Houston–the second being Nov. 5 at Providence Park–with the home-and-home series being decided on total goal aggregate. Road goals serve as the tie-breaker and with that in mind, Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri and the Timbers are aiming to harness the energy and strong play of late on the field against a solid Dynamo side.
“Houston is a good team and we need to be very focused and even with the emotions we have and the excitement we have, use that in a good way, with patience, with being smart," he said. "We have to perform, of course, because even if [the two matches add up to] a game of 180 minutes, we have to take a result here.”
Though the team is keen to continue its familiar routine as they continue in practice and play, they know that there’s a little extra buzz going on now that they’re in the postseason. The secret to balancing that, according to Valeri, is to not get distracted from the task at hand.
“We know that it’s a different [feeling],” he said. It’s a different stage of the season but the best thing we can do is to be very focused every moment of the game.
“If we can enjoy this part of the season, I think will be a key too.”
Though Portland—as the highest-seeded team in the West—has the luxury of playing host to the deciding second leg of the series next Sunday, the Timbers are not planning on resting on their laurels in this first stanza, with Houston coming off a Knockout Round win over Sporting Kansas City in extra time on Thursday.
“[The] worst thing we can do is to be relaxed about knowing that we have the next leg at home,” said Valeri. “It’s something you have to manage in being very focused in every moment of the first game and getting a result because if we can win here, we are in a very good position for the next game.”
