The Seattle Sounders have played in three U.S. Open Cup title games and three MLS Cup playoff series, but the match against Santos Laguna in the CONCACAF Champions League on March 7 may be the biggest match in franchise history. Not to be too much of a shill, but if you're enough of a fan of this team to be reading this blog, you probably should plan on being at Century Link Field that day. If you aren't a season-ticket holder, today's your chance to get tickets, as they go on sale at 10 a.m.

Just to put a little more added importance on this game, the Sounders' claim as kings of attendance is already being challenged by Toronto FC. When they last reported on ticket sales, they had surpassed 35,000 for their CCL quarterfinal against the LA Galaxy, which will be held indoors at Rogers Centre. The current capacity is 45,000.

It's not clear whether or not the Sounders plan on opening seating beyond the 38,500 that is the new "normal" capacity, but even if they don't a sellout would be a pretty strong message to send to the world about how we view CCL. Just imagine how cool it would be to say that more than 80,000 people attended CCL matches hosted by MLS teams on March 7. It's not UEFA Champions League, but it's the closest thing we have.

Just a small reminder: The away leg for this quarterfinal will be on Wednesday, March 14 at 5 p.m. Sounder at Heart is hosting a viewing party that day, at which we'll be handing out the 2012 scarves (still available for order). Whether or not you ordered a scarf, you are invited. We should have details finalized this week, but we can tell you that it looks like it will be all ages and be held at a facility in Capitol Hill.

When Sigi Schmid said Saturday, "there are a couple guys I’m concerned about a little bit that I don’t think came back as fit as I would have liked," some alarm bells went off in with in the Seattle Sounders fanbase. The question asked concerned how the team needed to change training in light of the CONCACAF Champions League series against Santos Laguna that starts a week and a half prior to League play. With 2012 starting off with such a strong opponent it is changing how Sigi and David Tenney (Sounders FC Fitness Coach) manage this year.

Tenney on Friday spoke with Sounder at Heart about the team's plan.

We're trying to balance the whole year is freshness and fitness at the same time. We have to build fitness earlier because we have to be fresh when it comes to CONCACAF. We can't go into the CONCACAF game already fatigued. We have to program in games, we have to be aggressive in some of our fitness as you saw today [Friday] at the same time we have to start pulling back on the reigns a bit earlier too as we can build in the freshness before fatigue starts.

It is a team wide focus. Tenney mentioned that about 20 players a day showed up for voluntary fitness sessions that started almost two weeks prior to the officially opening of Training Camp. At the time 27 were on the roster, with three of those being with their national teams and one still in Trinidad. It comes as little surprise that Mike Fucito was one of those that worked out almost all of the offseason (the list is quite long). Fucito stated his reason;

We want to cause some havoc in the Champions League and I think we've done well in League play but now we want to get over that hump.

Asked about starting off against a tougher than usual opponent he responded.

I think at this stage there is no easing into it. We'll get in our preseason games and we'll get tested early and see what we're about. I like it; it's a good challenge for us.

With that kind of fire, echoed by every returning player that talked to Sounder at Heart it is on Tenney and Schmid to craft this year's preseason in a manner that maximizes the Sounders chances at victory not just for the two leg CCL series, but for a long league season that overlaps the US Open Cup and the next Champions League as well.

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With the ice storm following the snow storm Seattle Sounders FC canceled today's practice. It was to be the formal opening to training camp, even though most players have participated in voluntary workouts for some time. They've been doing that not just because of the roster competition, but because game one this year is in the CONCACAF Champions League against Santos Laguna. Hopefully the early voluntary workouts can alleviate worries from this interview with Jurgen Klinsmann.

Santos sits on 4 points in 2 games played so far as they are early in their season. They ended the Apertura regular season in 4th and last in the two leg Finals for 2nd overall. The team is one of the top two or three in Mexico, which in CONCACAF means they are top two or three in the region. Their 5-1-2 +11 GD in Prelims and Group Stages earned them a spot in the Championship (knockout) Round and includes two wins over the Colorado Rapids by total score of 6-1.

Balón de Oro Awards: Lucas Lobos Named Top Player, Joe Corona Top Newcomer - FMF State Of Mind. In the post-season awards Santos was recognized with best Forward & Defensive Midfielder in Mexico.

Even though they already added American Hercules Gomez they may not be done.

Mexicans Abroad Recap: Guardado leads Deportivo top, Castillo scores and is sent off, Ochoa and Ajaccio post another win - Goal.com

Efrain Juarez, was taken off the roster to free up a non-EU roster spot, though he continues to train with the team. The two strongest possibilities regarding his future are that he returns to Celtic or home to Mexico, possibly with Santos Laguna, which has a working relationship with Celtic.

Santos Laguna takes Jaguares de Chiapas at 5PM Saturday.

Consider this an open thread and live Q&A throughout the day. There isn't likely to be much in the way of Sounders news today. Adam Johansson did go 90 minutes in Sweden's 2-0 friendly win over Bahrain.

The changes to the CONCACAF Champions League may have slipped by some due to all the MLS SuperDraft news. The new format breaks into four positives and three negatives. Travel for most clubs will be reduced, for the clubs in the Preliminary Round that advance it can drop by about 10,000 miles through the elimination of two cross-continental trips (there was a scenario last year where Seattle could travel 4700 miles one way in the Group Stage). For MLS and Mexican sides travel is an inconvenience that weakens players' ability to compete. For the tiny clubs in Central America and the Caribbean it can be a huge financial burden compared to simple busing through much smaller home leagues.

As MLS changed it's schedule format to reduce travel as well, there are some times when the schedule can get congested. Eliminating two or four games from the Seattle Sounders, LA Galaxy, Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake's summer schedule helps as well. Now the Summer and Fall overlap of 13 weeks only 12 MLS, four CCL and possibly one US Open Cup Final (Aug 7/8) for Seattle. With MLS play only being among the Western Conference during that stretch should result in more training days rather than days sitting in planes and buses.

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2012's first competitive match will be on 7 March at 7 PM Pacific as the Seattle Sounders face Santos Laguna at home. Their next match in the CONCACAF Champions League will be a week later down in Torreon, Mexico at 5 PM Pacific on the 14th. The 7th will in fact be MLS night in the CCL as the early match will be the Los Angeles Galaxy at Toronto FC.

As Major League Soccer will feature at least one team on a bye every league weekend it is unknown whether all three will be off or playing on the opening Saturday of 2012. Commissioner Garber said in his "State of the League" address that the schedule should be out in December, or early January at the latest.

The rest of the knockout rounds schedule follows;

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By losing the round 6 match to CF Monterrey Rayados the Seattle Sounders put themselves into circumstances where they could only face a Group Stage winner. Today's draw has Seattle hosting Santos Laguna in the two leg aggregate series (away goal rule) of the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals.. In this year's prelims and group stage Santos was clearly the best team. In the Prelims they beat Olimipia of Honduras 4-3 and then rolled in the Group Stage to a 4-1-1 +10 record that includes crushing second in their group Metapan.

Santos enters the Mexican League Playoffs as the 4th seed after posting an 8-6-3 +4 record. They struggled early and late in the season, oddly doing best when double booked with CCL matches. Oribe Peralta has 14 goals in the Apertura and CCL combined in just a half year. Their second half season starts in January, so unlike the Sounders they will be an in-form club.

Sounders Coach Sigi Schmid yesterday indicated that the CCL will force Seattle players to get fit quicker, get ready to win earlier;

Obviously we know we have something very important at play right at the beginning of the year because we’re coming back into CONCACAF quarterfinal play. We know that begins before the regular season begins so there’s a little more urgency in terms of coming in fit into preseason. As I told the guys, normally you look to be about 75 minutes fit going into your first regular season MLS game—everybody sort of at the same stage. But now going into a CONCACAF game you’re playing against teams that are playing and playing rhythm that are 90 minutes fit, so we have to be 90 minutes fit. That means better preparation in the off-season and a little alteration in how we go through our training regimen in preseason.

Pre-season matches like the Cascadia Summit and Community Shield will either be earlier or bypassed for Seattle to prepare best to win the most important trophy they can get in 2012.

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The full field is set for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, and while we don't know who awaits the Seattle Sounders, we know it won't be easy. The Sounders will face one of the three group winners, one of two Mexican teams or the Los Angeles Galaxy. Last year, the draw was released on Nov. 1.

If I were a betting man, I'd guess the Sounders will be facing either Santos Laguna or UNAM Pumas. Monterrey, the other group winner, is the one team the Sounders can't play, as both were in Group D. Let's take a look at the Sounders' possible opponents:

Santos Laguna: No team looked as dominant in the group stage as Los Guerreros. Their 4-1-1 record was the best of any team and their +10 goal-difference was four goals better than any other team. Oribe Peralta, Carlos Quintero and Christian Suarez combined for 11 goals and formed the most effective strike force in CCL. In two group stage matches against the Colorado Rapids, they won 6-1 on aggregate. 

In Mexican Primera play, they are currently leading the Apertura with 23 points through 12 matches. Peralta already has nine goals and leads the league. They play in Estadio Corona, one of the newer stadiums in Mexico, having been built in 2009. A quarterfinal against Santos Laguna probably represents a worst-case scenario for the Sounders.

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The Seattle Sounders just needed a point to become just the second MLS team in the four-year history of CONCACAF Champions League to win a group. Once Fredy Montero equalized in the 42nd minute, they seemed well on their way.

But two all-too-familiar problems cropped up once again: Allowing attackers to get behind the defense and poor passing in the defensive third. Unfortunately, the highlight package does not do a very good job of showing what exactly happened.

What we can see is that the Sounders stood toe-to-toe with a Mexican team and actually came out looking like the better team, even if it was the less polished one. In an almost complete role reversal of the first time these teams met this year, the Sounders largely had the run of play and created more chances. But the visitor did a better job of capitalizing on the few chances they did get.

The Sounders had at least two very good chances to find a late equalizer. First on a rather amazing control-and-pivot play from Montero that went just wide and then on a point-blank Patrick Ianni header than the backup goalkeeper managed to just save.

To be sure, it was a night of missed opportunities for the Sounders. The one good thing is that at least they can face these kinds of teams and know they can outplay them.

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