Starting XI: Retro Rainbows

Starting XI is a biweekly series on SportingKC.com that highlights 11 of the biggest storylines and news updates from Sporting Kansas City, MLS and soccer around the globe. Click here to visit the Starting XI archive.

Sporting KC will celebrate Retro Night on Sunday, May 27, when the club hosts Columbus Crew SC at Children's Mercy Park. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. CT and tickets are available via SeatGeek.com as Kansas City's professional soccer team pays homage to its proud roots in a comprehensive throwback experience.

At the forefront, the new retro jersey — featuring rainbow sleeve details and an "Oh When the Wiz" jock tag — will be on sale at every SportingStyle location in the stadium. The first 10,000 fans through the stadium gates will also receive a retro jersey koozie courtesy of match sponsor Vision Source.

2. Loons Looming

Occupying first place in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference, Sporting KC (7-2-2, 23 points) will return to action Sunday to face Minnesota United FC (4-7-0, 12 points) at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CT on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus and FOX Sports Midwest Plus, with the official watch party taking place at No Other Pub in the Kansas City Power & Light District (1370 Grand Blvd.).

3. Rangers Return

Like Sporting KC, the Swope Park Rangers (4-2-3, 15 points) were off this weekend and will continue regular season play in the USL on Saturday when they visit Rio Grande Valley (1-3-5, 8 points). The match at H-E-B- Park in Edinburg, Texas will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT, streaming live on ESPN+.

4. Playoff Push

The Sporting KC Academy enjoyed a successful trip to Houston this weekend as the 2017-18 U.S. Soccer Development Academy season rolled onward. The U-15s, U-17 and U-19s combined for a clean sweep of Texans SC Houston on Saturday before the U-17s and U-19s strengthened their respective playoff hopes with positive results against Houston Dynamo Youth on Sunday.

5. Big Names Fall

Saturday’s slate of MLS action was highlighted by a pair of 3-2 thrillers that saw star-studded teams end up on the wrong side of the scoreline. An afternoon matchup in Texas saw FC Dallas knock off Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the LA Galaxy thanks to a brace from Roland Lamah and a vintage long-range bomb from Maximiliano Urruti. On the east coast, the New England Revolution raced out to a 3-0 halftime lead and held on to prevail 3-2 over the defending treble winners Toronto FC, who have already lost more regular season games in 2018 (six) than they did in all of 2017 (five).

6. Sunday Bloody Sunday

A thrilling Sunday tripleheader kicked off with the newest installment of the Cascadia rivalry as the Portland Timbers downed Seattle Sounders FC 1-0 behind a late Sebastian Blanco strike. Atlanta United bounced back from their midweek lost to Sporting KC with an impressive 2-1 road win in Orlando, and LAFC moved within three points of Manager Peter Vermes’ men following a 1-1 draw with New York City FC.

7. England’s End

The English Premier League season drew to a close on Sunday, with Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool — the top four finishers and next year’s UEFA Champions League qualifiers — all ending their campaigns on winning notes. Chelsea, Arsenal and Burnley occupy fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, and will compete in next season’s Europa League. At the bottom of the table, West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City and Swansea City suffered relegation to the English Championship.

8. Unbeaten No More

FC Barcelona cruised to the 2017-18 Spanish La Liga title this season, but their pursuit of an unbeaten domestic campaign ended in their penultimate game of the campaign. An upstart Levante side shocked the champions 5-4 as Barcelona’s league record dropped to 27-1-9 ahead of next weekend’s curtain closer.

9. Forza Juve

Italian juggernaut Juventus clinched their record seventh successive Serie A title with a 0-0 draw at Roma on Sunday. The result leaves Juventus four points clear of second-place Napoli with one game still to play next weekend. It also serves as a fitting sendoff to legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, the longtime Italian international who is expected to retire at season’s end.

10. Battle for Promotion

Wolverhampton and Cardiff City have already punched their promotion ticket to next season’s English Premier League, but they will be joined by one more club in the coming weeks. The English Championship Playoffs will continue this week with decisive second legs. Derby County visits London side Fulham on Monday with a 1-0 aggregate advantage, while Aston Villa takes a 1-0 lead into their home tie with Middlesbrough on Tuesday. The winners of the two series will meet in a single-game promotion playoff on May 26 at Wembley Stadium.

11. Good Samaritan

Sporting KC and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City have teamed up to recognize Blue KC Sporting Samaritans, honoring students and teachers who make the Kansas City community a better place to live, work and play. Once a month, a Samaritan will be recognized on the pitch at Children's Mercy Park before a Sporting KC home game. The Samaritan and a limited number of guests will receive a behind the scenes VIP experience with a wide variety of all-inclusive perks. Supporters can nominate members of their community to be the next Blue KC Sporting Samaritan at SportingKC.com/bluekc.

Games to Watch (May 14-16, 2018)