Opening day is sacred in all sports, but this one will be especially so for MLS, because it almost didn't happen. Throughout the off-season, contentious negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement between players and owners produced little but acrimony and unease. Tuesday night, player representatives from 19 of the 20 MLS teams met together in Washington, DC and voted 18-1 to strike. But, they also agreed to continue negotiating on Wednesday, with the mutual knowledge that a work-stoppage would be devastating for all parties, and a new CBA was agreed upon.

So we get the game that almost didn't happen: Portland Timbers against Real Salt Lake to open the season at Providence Park on Saturday night (7:30 pm, TV on ROOT Sports, radio on 750 AM the Game).

This should be good. Portland and Real Salt Lake are a good match for each other—similar sized clubs who each pride themselves on playing an attractive, pure brand of soccer. But mostly, the first game of the season is about stepping into the stadium again. The sights, the smells, the sounds, the familiar faces, the new players, the new kits—there's a simple euphoric joy in the routine of starting again, the euphoria drawn ever closer by how close it was to not starting on time.

The History:

In home openers for their previous four MLS seasons, the Portland Timbers are undefeated, with two wins and two draws, and have averaged almost three goals per game. But in the past four years, the Timbers have opened their home slate against an Eastern Conference opponent. This year, it's Real Salt Lake, a frustrating, tantalizing hurdle of an opponent that Portland has been unable to jump.

In many ways, RSL is Portland's model franchise. Salt Lake has achieved a measure of continuity and style extremely unusual for MLS over the last decade. RSL has established the blueprint for small-market MLS success, and it's no mistake that some of the Timbers' most established and important players—Will Johnson and Nat Borchers—arrived from Salt Lake.

It was RSL who knocked the Timbers out of the 2013 playoffs, and they haven't lost at Providence Park since Kenny Cooper was hanging on the goal-frame in 2011. But Salt Lake is not what they once were. Age is catching up to the MLS-winning core of 2009, while the two pillars of their success—manager Jason Kreis and general manager Garth Lagerway—departed in consecutive off-seasons. Still, the significance of this match-up looms large.

On one hand, Portland wants to be Real Salt Lake. On the other hand, they want to vanquish them.

The Tactics:

Caleb Porter has options, and Caleb Porter has fears. Diego Chara's fitness is the fear. Chara hasn't been right since being crocked in the Vancouver game two weeks ago, and hasn't participated in full training since. Chara is the Timbers' most valuable central midfielder anyway, but with Will Johnson and Ben Zemanski both out, he's nothing short of vital. My guess is that he'll play—it's Chara, after all—but if he doesn't, things are going to get really interesting, really fast. Jorge Villafaña, the other fitness question, should be good to go.

The option is the silk of Gaston Fernandez versus the drive of Dairon Asprilla in midfield. Considering how well Kyle Beckerman and Co. close down space in the central pockets that Fernandez likes to slide into, Asprilla should get the nod and slide Darlington Nagbe into the middle behind Fanendo Adi.

Porter was absolutely abused by Jason Kreis tactically when these teams met in 2013, but Jeff Cassar versus Porter is a much fairer matchup. The RSL boss, entering his second year, will slide Jamison Olave into Nat Borchers' old center-back position in a like-for-like swap, but the goal is for Salt Lake to be younger and more athletic all over the field.

Cassar has experimented with doing away entirely with the diamond midfield that has been RSL's standby since the beginning of the Kreis era, and with Joao Plata out injured, he has plenty of flexibility up top. Alvaro Saborio should be a handful for Liam Ridgewell and Borchers, while Luis Gil will be asked to play a major role as well.

Portland will want to start fast, but Porter, who, for the first time, has a defense he can rely on, won't let that translate into the type of recklessness that cost the Timbers early in games consistently last spring. Look for a tight contest, and while the Timbers have more game-breakers, RSL will threaten from set-pieces and generally keep themselves in the match. Salt Lake will try to isolate Jack Jewsbury in midfield, while the Timbers could target new RSL fullback Demar Phillips.

The Lineup:

1 - Kwarasey
19 - Villafaña
7 - Borchers
24 - Ridgewell (C)
2 - Powell
13 - Jewsbury
21 - Chara
22 - Wallace
6 - Nagbe
11 - Asprilla
9 - Adi

The Pick:

Portland and Real Salt Lake only play tight games. Expect this to be a defensive battle: No one likes Providence Park more than Nick Rimando, and the Timbers' defense has been outstanding throughout preseason. One goal could be enough, and the Timbers should nick it for a 1-0 win.