That imposition known as CONCACAF Champions League is back tonight for two MLS teams. The Crew are in Mexico to take on Santos Laguna, a match that should represent the next best chance for MLS to break their Mexico curse.


I say "should" because the Champions League as imposition means a weakened Crew squad will be on the field tonight. No Guillermo Barros Schelotto. No Chad Marshall. No Danny O'Rourke, and a number of starters planted on the bench. Robert Warzycha is coloring his decision as a strategic one, implying that the three points bagged at home against Municipal last week allows for the approach.


And we wonder why an MLS team has never won in Mexico.


Warzycha's logic is fairly sound, don't get me wrong. But his strategy takes all the anticipation out of the game. The chances of the Crew shocking Santos now are essentially nil, and even a draw would be somewhat shocking. Without both their best offensive and defensive player respectively, the Crew are dead men walking against a side with an early lead in the Apertura.


So what to do? The game kicks off at 10 PM Eastern, making it a rather late night if I choose to sit up and watch what seems like a foregone conclusion. On the other hand, I feel obligated to watch as a champion of MLS and fan of the league desperate to see a breakthrough in Mexico. Stranger things have happened in the history of the game than a less-than-full-strength MLS side winning in Mexico; but that specific strange thing has never happened, and I don't expect this will be the night.


I guess that means we'll continue to wait. It's a bit sad that one of the league's top teams heads to Mexico essentially conceding that they can't win, that their institutional (MLS being the institution) lack of depth dictates a pragmatic approach that involves leaving their two best players at home. Columbus is one of the teams that we should believe can break the curse. Not this time.


C'mon Real Salt Lake.