On Monday evening, the Sounders learned their opponent in the Round of 16 of the CONCACAF Champions League in early 2018: Santa Tecla FC.
The draw marks the first-ever meeting between the two sides, with the 2016 MLS Cup champion visiting El Salvador on Thursday, February 22. The Sounders then host Santa Tecla FC, who qualified after winning the Salvadoran Primera División 2016 Apertura and 2017 Clausura championships, for the return leg on Thursday, March 1 at CenturyLink Field. Both matches will kick off at 7 p.m. PT. Tickets for this match are available now exclusively in 2018 season ticket packages. Purchase here or call 877-MLS-GOAL for more information.
The 2018 edition marks the fifth time in club history the Sounders have competed in the regional tournament, as the Rave Green hope to become the first team in MLS history to win the competition and qualify for FIFA Club World Cup.
“No one is saying that now all of a sudden our payrolls are level with Club América, but we’re going to take them on,” Sounders GM & President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey said last week. “We’re going to try to beat them and we believe that the way to grow our league is to win Champions League. That’s an ambition of our club, it’s an ambition of our league and it’s incumbent upon us to get better in an effort to try and go out and win the thing.”
The Sounders encountered an El Salvadoran team once before, with Seattle playing AD Isidro Metapan in a two-match play-in series in 2010. The Rave Green advanced 2-1, with goals from Fredy Montero and Alvaro Fernandez.
