Rivalry week is officially upon us in the 2025 MLS season. Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids square off face-to-face once again in the Rocky Mountain Cup derby, where it’s not just about points but about bragging rights for both fan bases. This matchup comes at a crucial point in the season for both clubs, both of which currently sit on the cusp of the final playoff spots.
Only three days after RSL hosted the Portland Timbers in a nil-nil draw at home, Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s squad travels to Colorado to face the rival Rapids. The Utah side is more than familiar with these Western Conference counterparts, having faced the Rapids more times than any other team in the league—except for the LA Galaxy, with whom they’ve played an equal number of matches. This Saturday’s bout will mark the 61st meeting between the two sides, with both looking to grab a much-needed victory as the march towards postseason football continues.
Pablo Mastroeni is a prominent figure in both organizations, leaving his mark on the Rapids as a player and earning his first managerial experience there, and in Sandy for bringing a successful philosophy that has breathed new life into RSL. It's unclear how his return to his former club will be received, but his competitive nature will surely keep his focus on what happens on the pitch rather than the noise off it. The objective for the weekend: grab the three points.
In this edition of storylines we’ll analyse the upcoming rivalry encounter between RSL and the Colorado Rapids.
Reviving the Rivalry Against the Rapids
Few rivalries in MLS compare to the Rocky Mountain clash. RSL’s expansion 2005 season was the inception, and since then, the animosity for each other has only grown. RSL has had the upper hand during these 20 years as they claimed a record of 30 wins, 13 draws, and 17 losses to go along with 96 goals and conceding just 64. Although the two teams have faced each other numerous times, it’s somewhat surprising that they’ve never crossed paths in the postseason. However, the atmosphere created by the fans makes the spectacle feel as intense and special as a playoff match.
RSL and Colorado last met in 2024, playing three games during the regular season. On this occasion, the Rapids took advantage and were victorious twice, while falling once to the Utah side - a 5-3 defeat at America First Field. We have to go back to October 2023 to find the last RSL victory at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, when the team captured a 1-0 win thanks to a Diego Luna lone goal. Will that fortune repeat itself this Saturday? Only time will tell, but Luna’s growth since then has certainly given fans reason to believe that the team can earn a positive result, led by their beloved young star.
This Saturday, Mastroeni will have the opportunity to include FW William Agada back into the starting lineup after he missed the match against Portland due to a red card suspension from the 1-1 draw with Dallas. Additionally, Justen Glad is primed to take his starting position back in the defense, having served his one-game suspension as a result of an accumulation of yellow cards. These changes to the starting XI could help deliver the result the team is aiming for, especially in the hostile environment Colorado is likely to provide.
Mastroeni’s Mountain of Milestones
The return of Pablo Mastroeni to the home of the Rapids is sure to evoke a wave of emotions given his deep-rooted history with the club. As a player, Mastroeni spent 12 seasons with the club, leading them to the title in 2010 as the team captain. Soon after his retirement, he was given his first managerial opportunity with the Rapids, where he served as head coach from 2014 to 2017. His first two seasons as the coach were rocky, leading the team to its worst regular season in franchise history in 2014 and then hardly improving in 2015. Nevertheless, the drive to succeed that is so evident in Pablo today was demonstrated in 2016 when he devoted his time to learning from other head coaches such as Arsène Wenger and Mauricio Pochettino in England and he even took supplemental coaching courses to learn how to improve as a manager. His hard work paid off as that season the Rapids recorded their best regular season in franchise history with a total of 58 points and Mastroeni finished in second in the MLS Coach of the Year voting.
Fast forward to 2021, Mastroeni took on the challenge of leading Real Salt Lake as the interim head coach before accepting the full-time role in December of that year. At the time, the Club was going through important changes in ownership and they were looking for someone motivated and established to right the ship and there was little doubt that Pablo was the man for the job. He led the team to the Conference Finals in 2021, a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal in 2023, a top-three West finish during the 2024 season, and four straight playoff appearances since he took over.
This weekend will be a special match for him but as the current head coach of RSL he is undoubtedly planning on the best strategy to take home the three points. The midfield trio of Diego Gonçalves, Diego Luna, and Zavier Gozo could prove to be the difference makers for the team as there is an abundance of creativity and they’ll look to create goal-scoring opportunities for either Ari Piol or William Agada up front. Efficiency has been RSL’s achilles heel so far this season but it’s games like this that can turn everything around.
