How To Get Tickets To See Timbers In Western Conference Final

PORTLAND, OR —The Portland Timbers will host Real Salt Lake in Saturday's Western Conference Final of the Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs. The game at Providence Park will kick off at 3:30 p.m. Pacific, the league announced Sunday.

Tickets to the contest will go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday. More information about purchasing tickets is available on the Portland Timbers website.

Portland advanced to the conference final with a 1-0 win over the top-seeded Colorado Rapids on Thursday in Commerce City, Colorado. French defender Larrys Mabiala scored the dramatic game-winner in the 90th minute for the Timbers against the Rapids.

The Timbers will be without forward Dairon Asprilla for Saturday's contest, after he was issued a straight red card in second-half stoppage time on Thursday.

Portland's star playmaker Sebastian Blanco also was forced to leave the game in Colorado with an apparent hamstring injury. He was in tears on the bench and is expected to miss the conference final, though the team has not ruled him out officially.

Portland head coach Giovanni Savarese told FrontRowSoccer.com that he believes the Timbers can still succeed without Asprilla and Blanco.

"The reality is that this group has shown through the entire season that we have never given up that we're going to work hard," Savarese said. "We are always in the belief that anybody is going to step up to make sure that we can achieve things as a group because ultimately, our strength is more than (one) player. Our strength is the group. We always have said that, and the group understands that very, very well. We have players that can make the difference, but the group is the most important part."

Real Salt Lake also advanced to the conference final thanks to a 90th-minute winner, which came off the foot of striker Bobby Wood in Sunday's 2-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City.

Salt Lake had trailed 1-0 in that contest before substitute Anderson Julio equalized with a goal in the 72nd minute.

The Timbers won all three regular-season meetings against Real Salt Lake in 2021, outscoring Salt Lake 12-4 in the process. Portland won 6-1 when the teams last met at Providence Park in September.

A day after the Timbers host Real Salt Lake, the MLS Eastern Conference Final will feature the Philadelphia Union against the winner of Tuesday night's match between New England Revolution and New York City FC.

The conference champions will face one another in the MLS Cup Final on Dec. 11. If New England makes it that far, it would host the championship match after finishing with the league's best record. However, Portland would host Philadelphia or NYCFC.

Saturday's Western Conference Final will be broadcast nationally on FS1 and FOX Deportes with radio broadcasts on 750 The Game (English) and La GranD 1150AM/93.5 FM (Spanish).