As Toronto FC’s squad knows all too well, travel in the CONCACAF Champions League can be draining. The Reds have endured long trips to Honduras and Panama this year plus a visit to Mexico City last week, but now they have returned home for the final two matches of the group stage, starting tonight against Real Salt Lake (kick off 8:00 p.m. at BMO Field live on GOLTV Canada).

This time it is the Reds’ opponents who have had their preparations disrupted by travel headaches. Real Salt Lake’s players were delayed in Atlanta on Sunday and missed their connecting flight until Toronto. Players had to take a number of different flights yesterday and the full squad was not reunited in Toronto until early evening, forcing coach Jason Kreis to cancel the team’s training session.

Real Salt Lake need a point against Toronto to qualify for the next stage of the tournament and Kreis rested five first team regulars for their last league match to try and keep them fresh for tonight’s match. Goalkeeper Nick Rimando, captain Kyle Beckerman and striker Alvaro Saborio were amongst the players left out of the starting line-up for their 1-1 draw against  Colorado Rapids at Rio Tinto Stadium – a result that clinched a playoff spot for RSL.

“They have already made the playoffs so they want this tournament badly now,” said Toronto FC Interim Head Coach Nick Dasovic. “They have an interesting game against Cruz Azul as the last match in the group stage, so we know they will come here wanting to go for a win.”

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