The annual MLS crash out of the Champions League. Ah, drink it in folks. Its like a flat soda on a hot summer day. Yuck.

FC Dallas crashed and burned last night in the Champions League semifinal second leg in a 3-1 loss to Pachuca. In all reality, it was about as disappointing as you can possibly get out of this bunch. Between the failed chances, the poor giveaways, lackadaisical passing in the midfield and everything else in between, it was a loss we’ll want to quickly forget.

But let’s break down a few points from the game and move on with this heartbreak to Minnesota this weekend.

Colman scores but continues to struggle

Man that breakaway early in the first half was a golden opportunity. Cristian Colman was free in on goal but once again he failed to find the back of the net and instead put in a shot that was easy to block for the Pachuca keeper.

That folks was a game changer in my book. Had he scored, FCD would have had the early road goal and a 3-1 advantage in the series. Instead, it was a missed opportunity that will go down as one of the biggest ‘what if’ moments of the early season.

This kind of trend is a bit worrisome but I will point out that he continues to help put Maxi Urruti in better spots as the game goes on. Colman looked more active last night than in previous games in MLS too. His pace and movement is good too, something that seems to go a bit unnoticeable.

Chris Seitz’s wild night

We’ve discussed a lot of rumors and talk recently on here about how FC Dallas continues to look for a third keeper. Last night definitely showed us why the club continues to go on that hunt.

Chris Seitz was great in the first 25 minutes or so. Making stop after stop when he was called upon. But boy, his positioning in the first goal and even on both of the Chucky Lozano goals was suspect at best proving he may very well not be the big time keeper that this club needs for moments like this.

I love me some Seitz, don’t get me wrong. But he looked out of his element at times in this one. Either being indecisive off his line or just struggling to keep his back four in check (looking at you both Hernan Grana and Maynor Figueroa).

Pareja didn’t step on his own toes

I don’t know how many times in the past that we’ve seen Oscar Pareja trot out a lineup in a big game that makes us scratch our heads a bit. I know we tend to just fall in line with the “Trust in Papi” bit in those moments but history has shown that Pareja has struggled in past big games (Portland at home two years ago, at Seattle last year, etc).

I didn’t feel like this was one of them. He didn’t make me question his lineup choice at all. He also didn’t really make me question his choices off the bench. For the most part he was letting his main guys play until he needed to bring in Javier Morales and Tesho Akindele.

Would I have liked to have seen those two a bit sooner? Sure. But the game or series wasn’t completely away from them in either moment.

While the result still proves he has some work to do in big games, I think the progression for him in this area was a big deal.

MLS Cup or bust time

Now that this tournament is out of the way for FCD, the main focus will turn to winning it all at the end of this season. This group has shown that when they are determined they can get it done. I think the sting of this game will certainly linger for a little while but there may not be a better battle tested team in MLS right now than FC Dallas.

For now we know that the team has four games on the slate for the month of April with three of them at home. My gut tells me that anything less than 10 points would be a sign that a hangover is in full effect after this loss.

What did you take away from last night’s loss?