Albert Rusnak conceded there was still a bitter feeling among his Seattle Sounders team-mates following their early exit from the MLS playoffs last season. 

Seattle finished fifth in the Western Conference and were pitted against Minnesota United, who had finished one place and three points above them in the league table. 

Brian Schmetzer's team exited at the first hurdle, with two penalty shoot-out defeats coming either side of a 4-2 win against Minnesota at Lumen Field. 

It brought a premature end to a topsy-turvy year for the Sounders, who had their campaign interrupted by the Club World Cup, where they lost all three of their group matches. 

They more than made up for that by lifting the Leagues Cup with a 3-0 win over Inter Miami, though their failure in the postseason still left a sour taste for Rusnak.

"No, I feel like every year I have been here, the goals have been the same," Rusnak said when asked if he had prepared differently for this season.

"That is to win as many games as possible. It's also to win trophies.

"It's no different this year. We had a taste of the Leagues Cup last year, and we still feel with the playoffs that there is still a bitter feeling about the way we went out.

"I think the group is excited to get back and start a new MLS season with a home game. I think that's important, and we all want to start on the right track."

And the Sounders begin their 2026 season at home to the Colorado Rapids, who are under new management following the dismissal of Chris Armas back in October. 

Armas' departure came after the club failed to reach the playoffs for the third time in the last four seasons, with former Tottenham assistant Matt Wells appointed as his successor.

And as he prepares for his first MLS fixture in charge of the club, Wells offered a brief insight into what to expect from his team at Lumen Field. 

"Every game we go to play, we want to get three points, but the main thing for me is that we focus on the performance," Wells said. "We go there and we play our football.

"We definitely play offensively. I won't give too much away, but you could ask me that question every week and you would get the same answer.

"We're going to go there and try and dominate. We've played some top teams in preseason and had the same intention, but with varying success.

"We will try to press when we don't have the ball and create chances when we do."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Seattle Sounders – Danny Musovski

If Seattle want to get their 2026 campaign off to a winning start, they will need Musovski to be in top form in the final third.

He scored 16 goals in 34 outings in MLS play last year (regular season and playoffs), nearly equalling his total from his first five MLS seasons (17 goals in 107 games, including playoffs).

Colorado Rapids – Rafael Navarro

Navarro scored a team-leading 12 regular-season goals in 2025 after netting 15 in 2024.

Since 2011, there have only been two other instances of a Colorado player scoring 12 or more goals in a season, with those coming from Diego Rubio (16) in 2022 and Kei Kamara (14) in 2019.

MATCH PREDICTION: SEATTLE SOUNDERS WIN

Seattle were eliminated from last season's playoffs in the first round despite recording a win and two draws against Minnesota United (lost twice on penalties).

The Sounders have suffered just three defeats in their last 25 matches in all competitions dating back to late June (W14 D8).

And Colorado have earned draws on each of their last two visits to Seattle after avoiding defeat just three times in their first 20 matches at the Sounders in all competitions (W2 D1 L17). Seattle had won seven straight at home against the Rapids before drawing each of the last two.

The Rapids have opened 23 of their previous 30 MLS seasons on the road, including each of the previous six dating back to 2020. They have managed just two wins in those 23 matches (D6 L15).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Seattle Sounders – 68.3%

Draw – 17.6%

Colorado Rapids – 14.1%