It’s hard to believe that only as far back as April 22, 2018, Napoli beat Juventus 1-0 in Turin to move top of the table with only four games remaining. Maurizio Sarri — himself now in charge at Juve — had broken the club record points total in each of the previous two campaigns, and would do so again in 2017-18, but the Naples men ultimately finished second, albeit with yet another unseen total of 91 points.

This is the moment of truth for Canada's men's national team. 

Just over a week after the Seattle Sounders and Toronto FC went on the road and upset the favorites, MLS Cup 2019 is on the horizon as the 24th season in league history comes to a close. CenturyLink Field in Seattle will be the epicenter on Sunday at 3 PM when the two sides face off in the MLS Cup final for the third time in the past four years. 

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

November 15 could be a day of reckoning for Gregg Berhalter and the United States men's national team. After last month's 2-0 defeat to Canada — the first loss to their neighbors in 35 years — Berhalter needs a win in Orlando to help rectify the USA's position in the first-ever Concacaf Nations League. Anything other than a win would mean that Canada will advance to the semifinals, a shocking result for the U.S.

With the action in Italy heating up both on and off the field, it’s time to get you caught up with what’s been happening in the world of Serie A and, as always, “10 Things” is here to bring you right up to date.

Another round of club play is in the books, and several of the region’s top players were in the headlines once again through clutch goals, quality performances, and even uncharacteristic errors. 

Mexican and USA players get most of the ink for their performances abroad, but there are plenty of players from all countries in Concacaf plying their trade outside of the region. Costa Rica keeper Keylor Navas and Canadian winger Alphonso Davies are two of the biggest names from Concacaf playing in Europe right now, both contributing to some of the biggest clubs in the world.

While the first two rounds of the MLS Playoffs went mostly to script, the Seattle Sounders and Toronto FC sprung upsets this week, setting up a third meeting between the two clubs in the MLS Cup final. Seattle beat Cup favorites LAFC 3-1 on Tuesday night, before TFC went to Atlanta and walked away 2-1 winners thanks to Nick DeLeon's stunning goal. The result is a November 10 date at CenturyLink Field, the second time the stadium has hosted MLS Cup.

The MLS Conference Finals kick off tonight, with three teams that everyone might have expected to make it this far, and Toronto FC one of the four as the surprise team left. Los Angeles FC and the Seattle Sounders battle for the Western Conference final on Tuesday night, with Atlanta United and TFC set to face off at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Wednesday to determine who will earn the right to play for the MLS Cup. 

The conference finals are set for the MLS playoffs, and the participants are the runaway favorites, and a "who's who" of recent MLS Cup champions. Los Angeles FC wrapped up the conference semifinals last night in another dramatic edition of El Trafico. A 5-3 win, their first triumph over the LA Galaxy, means that Bob Bradley's side will host the Seattle Sounders next week for a spot in MLS Cup.

It's hard to imagine a more perfect round of playoffs this year for Major League Soccer's new format for the second season. With only one game between sides to determine who moves on, the six games this past weekend were chock-full of attacking soccer, absolutely maddening drama, and results that point to the regular season now being even more important with five of six home teams moving on. You could not have imagined a better weekend for MLS.

“This is a new situation for me, something I've never experienced before.”

Since bursting onto the scene with Borussia Dortmund as a 17-year-old, Christian Pulisic has had quite a few up and downs in his young career. First, it was carving out a spot for his club in Germany and then almost immediately becoming a starter with the U.S. national team. Then Pulisic was part of the U.S. team that spectacularly failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup despite his goal in a 2-1 loss to Trinidad & Tobago. 

This was the first year of the new MLS playoff format, and boy did it bring the drama the first weekend. Gone are the days of two-legged series — the entire tournament now is one-off games, hosted by the higher seed. And in the first six games of the playoffs, the team hosting won five times. But these weren't straight forward affairs. Three of the games went to extra time, as the games featured goals galore, a Jordan Morris hat trick, and a first-ever playoff win for the Philadelphia Union.