Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope your workweek is coming to a close and that you have an enjoyable weekend in store ahead.

Wednesday’s match against Minnesota United was the appetizer ahead of the CONCACAF Champions Cup final feast and it played out largely as such, finishing as a 0-0 draw where the Caps dominated play but couldn’t find a way through a resolute Loons side.

Jesper Sorensen clearly saw this as a way to keep the team fit and sharp for Sunday (seemingly why the Caps didn’t push harder to have the fixture moved) and basically all of the starters saw time at one point or another in this one.

There is probably not a ton that should be read into this one heading into Sunday but there was some good news here. The backline looked much sharper with the return of Ranko Veselinovic and didn’t have a ton to do, in part because Minnesota rarely troubled them but also because of some sharp defending.

That also was down to some quality counter pressing in the midfield to blunt Minnesota attacks and JC Ngando and Andres Cubas had excellent matches, probably the two standout performers of the night for the Caps.

The problem ultimately was picking the lock that was the Minnesota back five, the posture the away side sat in for much of the night. Despite creating a lot of OK chances and generating way more shots, Vancouver never had a big chance come their way. That was down to the quality of Minnesota and was also probably an instance where the Caps missed Ryan Gauld (Seb Berhalter was solid, per usual, but couldn’t quite take over control of the match in the same way).

The good (or bad?) news for Vancouver is this isn’t likely to be their dilemma on Sunday. The match against Cruz Azul will be much more open and will present a different challenge, particularly without Berhalter in the lineup.

This is the biggest match in the club’s MLS history and they will have to play like it in order to win on Sunday. Without Berhalter and Gauld, it goes without saying that is a tall order. But who would doubt this team at this point? They play with the intensity and confidence to win against anyone and hopefully got their sketchy defensive performance out of the way against RSL. Cruz Azul will be riding high and the Caps do their best when their opponent is playing with a bit too much confidence. Sunday is must see TV and I can’t wait to join in with you all to bask in the moment and take it all in — and possibly end the night with some silverware.

Shameless Self Promotion

A look back at the calm ahead of the Cruz Azul storm.

Best of the Rest

A look at the watch party options available ahead of the final, though I believe some have started to fill up.

A nice profile of the Caps’ away fans ahead of their biggest trip yet.

A subplot I tried not to focus on from Wednesday’s match: Emmanuel Sabbi has yet to get an apology from Joseph Rosales for the racial abuse incident in the away fixture.

The latest on Ryan Gauld’s injury — and it is not good news.

A sitdown interview with the outgoing leader of Pacific FC, Paul Beirne.