It’s fitting that a milestone season for the Chicago Fire Soccer Club begins with a milestone match.
When the Fire officially kick off their 20th Season in MLS Saturday, they’ll also be playing the club’s 600th MLS regular season contest.
Also appropriate is that they’ll do so against the opponent they’ve seen most frequently since entering the league in 1998. Chicago’s visit to Columbus Crew SC (1 p.m. CT, CSN Chicago) is the 59th regular season match between the longtime Midwest rivals, four more meetings for the Fire than against joint-second DC United and New England Revolution.