Soccer insider: Seattle looking strong, hoping for third NWSL title in a row

This weekend, the NWSL will do something that no other American women's soccer league has ever done: kick off its fourth season.

With interest in the league at an all-time high, thanks to the all-conquering, World Cup-winning women's national team, the National Women's Soccer League drew record crowds toward the end of last season. In 2016, the league will try to build on that — even during the Summer Olympics, when the league's biggest names will depart.

The story of the season may be the league's newest franchise, the Orlando Pride, led by striker Alex Morgan. To pry Morgan away from Portland, though, Orlando had to give up plenty. The Thorns got the No. 1 pick in the draft, which they used on U.S. women's national team and Virginia defender Emily Sonnett. They also got a top pick in the expansion draft, which they used to get USA left back Meghan Klingenberg, and an international roster spot, which they leveraged to sign France midfield star Amandine Henry. The Thorns annually draw the league's largest crowds, and the Portland faithful may have much to cheer this summer.

The league's other Pacific Northwest club, the Seattle Reign, has won the regular-season title two years in a row and is primed for a third run. Virtually everyone returns from last year's side, save retired left back Stephanie Cox. If the Reign can overcome her loss, plus the knee injury that will keep left winger Megan Rapinoe out for much of the year, it will be the league favorite. Much rests on the shoulders of rookie defender Carson Pickett, who looks set to replace Cox.

While Seattle has won consecutive regular-season titles, in both years they lost the league's championship game to FC Kansas City. While they're the two-time defending champs, it's not looking good this year for Kansas City, which lost more talent than any other team in the offseason. National team standouts Lauren Holiday and Amy LePeilbet retired. When striker Amy Rodriguez announced her pregnancy, Kansas City traded for her fellow national team striker Sydney Leroux as a replacement — only to have Leroux announce her own pregnancy, two weeks later.

Besides the favorites, keep an eye on Houston, which has all-world midfielder Carli Lloyd but may struggle with the number of players who will miss time to go to the Olympics. Also watch out for Chicago, which seems primed to potentially make the leap to contender status this year — thanks in part to forward Christen Press, who scored 10 goals in 11 games last year.

NWSL will again broadcast its playoffs, and a handful of regular-season games, on Fox Sports, with the remainder of the schedule streamed free for fans on YouTube. The league has depended on the national team to build interest in the past. As it expands into the uncharted territory of a fourth season, though, the NWSL will be hoping to develop fans of its own.

• Don't look now, but Barcelona has lost two league games in a row — and the Spanish title race is back on. With six games to go, Barca leads Atletico Madrid by three points and Real Madrid by four. Are the defending champions running out of gas? Their loss to Atletico this week, in the Champions League quarterfinals, means that a second consecutive treble is out of their grasp.

• MLS Commissioner Don Garber confirmed that MLS would expand to at least 28 teams, including a probable team in Sacramento, Calif. While the future wave of expansion is still a little ways off, it's worth thinking about how a 28-team league can function with a 34-game schedule. MLS may need to create divisions within its two conferences, or even — down the road — consider a two-tiered league system.

• Garber, speaking at a rally in Sacramento, also said that, if Minnesota were going to play in MLS in 2017, "we have to have an announcement pretty soon." Those words are the strongest signal yet to confirm what many have assumed: The team's start date hinges on the Legislature's approval of the team's plan for a stadium in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood.

WEEKEND WATCH GUIDE

Bundesliga: Schalke at Bayern Munich, 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Ch. 9. With five games to go in the German season, Bayern — seven points up on Borussia Dortmund — is close enough to taste a fourth consecutive league title. Schalke, though, has plenty at stake, only four points out of third place. The visitors drew 2-2 with Dortmund last week; can they bring down another giant?

MLS: Sporting Kansas City at Dallas, 6 p.m. Sunday, FS1. This will be an early test for two of the teams that appear to be among the class of the Western Conference. Both teams have endured early hiccups — a pair of home losses for KC, and for Dallas, a beating at the hands of cross-state rivals Houston — but have otherwise been excellent. The midfield play on both sides will be the key to the outcome.