⚽️ Champions Cup Details Announced

_{LAST MATCH: Union 1 - New England Revolution 2}

_{NEXT MATCH: vs. New England Revolution, Saturday, October 28, 5 p.m. | Apple TV - MLS Season Pass}

Good morning. With the Phillies somehow finding a way to lose to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Philadelphia Union are the last best hope of a Philadelphia championship in 2023. Positive thoughts only.

In the email today:

The era of more soccer will continue next year for the Philadelphia Union with the expanded Champions Cup. They learned Tuesday that the new edition of the continental competition will begin a month earlier in early February.

Should they make it all the way back to the MLS Cup final on December 9, they’ll have just eight weeks between games. An early exit in the playoffs would still mean just 12 weeks between games.

With the Union likely reporting in early January, it will be an even shorter offseason for a team that has endured the grind of their longest season in history. They have played a 34-game regular season, 1 U.S. Open Cup match, 6 Champions League and 7 Leagues Cup games in 2023 for a total of 48 games. They’re guaranteed two playoff games so it will end up being between 50 and 54 games total.

The Champions Cup draw will be held on December 13. The Union will face one of the 11 lowest-ranked teams in the first round so a match-up with a Central American, Caribbean or Canadian Premier League team is almost certain.

Our take: There’s too many games already and the off-season is way too short. Expanding Champions League from 16 teams to a 27-team Champions Cup is one thing but expecting the Union to do that while also participating in Leagues Cup is just too much.

2) 🇨🇴🇵🇪 The Last Philadelphia Union Original

Thirteen years after the Union kicked off their inaugural season, only one player on that team is still actively playing professional soccer.

That player is Róger Torres, who surprisingly is still only 32. The Colombian attacking midfielder plays for Alianza Atletico in Peru’s top flight.

He’s made 13 appearances & logged 547 minutes in Liga 1 Clausura.

3) ➕ Meme of the Day: Posidelphia

4) 💧 Water Cooler: Union MVP

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

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Results from our last poll First Round Playoff Prediction:

5) 🔗 Link Roundup:

• 📚 The Philadelphia Union and Widener University hosted a work in sports camp for local high school students last week.

• ⚽️ Every MLS team’s leading goal-scorer during the 2023 regular season.

• ⎶ Sign up for the MLS bracket challenge.

• 🥁 The Union are hosting a drum tour at sites around the city this Friday.

The newsletter today was written by: Matt Ralph @MattRalph_ and Evan Cohen @SOB_Evan

Thanks for reading!