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D.C. United announced today that their league match against the LA Galaxy, originally scheduled for March 15, has been moved to August 27. This is to help the LA Galaxy field the strongest possible team against Club Tijuana, whom they play in the CONCACAF Champions Leage on March 12 and March 18. MLS has a long-standing history of moving games to accommodate the Champions League, having done so for the past few years.
However, the rescheduled date still affects the CONCACAF Champions League, but instead it is D.C. United being hurt, whereas the Galaxy are not in next year's edition. The league match has been moved to August 27; for at least the past three editions of the Champions League, there have been two matchdays in the last two weeks of August. For example, in this current edition, there were games scheduled for August 20–22 and August 27–29. The matchdays for the next edition have not yet been announced, but it is likely that they will be around the same time, meaning that D.C. United will be feeling the crunch.
It will be a scheduling miracle to fit extra games for D.C. United in late August or early September, especially now that this match has been moved. United now has league games on August 17 (COL), August 23 (@SKC), August 27 (@LAG), August 31 (NYRB), September 6 (VWFC), and September 10 (NYRB). All of this means that, within the span of three weeks, D.C. United will be playing three of the best teams in the league in Sporting Kansas City, New York Red Bulls, and LA Galaxy, while also trying to fit in two CONCACAF Champions League games. August was already difficult enough, and now the league has made it even more so. Expect more games to be moved, because it cannot stay like this.
