Only hardcore Red Bulls fans knew there was a game Wednesday night, with a CONCACAF Champions League second-leg match against Atletico Pantoja from the Dominican Republic at frigid Red Bull Arena on the schedule.

The MLS regular season, after all, doesn’t begin for the Red Bulls until Saturday in Columbus. But the Red Bulls, as a result of their success in 2018 as Supporters Shield winners, are again immersed in the CCL tournament. And their 3-0 win over Atletico Pantoja Wednesday advanced them into the CCL quarterfinals against Santos Laguna from Liga MX.

The first leg of that series will take place Tuesday night at Red Bull Arena thanks to their dominant 5-0 aggregate win over Pantoja.

The goals on Wednesday came from Sean Davis, Daniel Royer and Andreas Ivan.

Before you pass this off as some sort of ho-hum meaningless preseason exhibition, know these facts: No MLS team has ever won the CCL, the Red Bulls went deep last year, losing in the semifinal round and — most importantly — the experience served as an invaluable springboard into the MLS season.

The Red Bulls were better for their MLS schedule because of their CCL experience last season and figure to be again this season.

Pumped with confidence from the deep run into the tournament and more fit than they’d have been without it, the Red Bulls started last season’s MLS schedule with five consecutive wins en route to the league’s best regular-season record.

While the semifinal loss to Chivas de Guadalajara, which went on to win the CCL title, gutted the Red Bulls in their pursuit of an elusive first cup in franchise history, it, too, propelled them by hardening them to intense, high-level competition with the pressure of elimination games before their regular season even began.

While the Red Bulls find themselves again seeking a CCL title, they also hope this experience provides them the same benefits it did a year ago.

“We were at 100 miles per hour going into the MLS season and those tough games really showed us what we were about,’’ Red Bulls defender Aaron Long said.

“To go to [Tijuana,] Mexico and win where an American team had never won, and then we go to MLS and we were already confident,’’ said Bradley Wright-Phillips, the Red Bulls’ leading scorer and heartbeat of the team, said. “It helped us a lot last season. You’re in real important games early in the season so you’re used to those and you get fit. We are way fitter than we would have been had we just started MLS season. There are so many positives.’’

Goalkeeper Luis Robles said the CCL experience last year “helped us a lot because everyone was ready to go for the MLS season and we hit the ground running.’’

“Those are memorable games,’’ Robles said of the CCL run. “It’s not often that you go to Guadalajara and play in that stadium and we were one of the first teams in MLS to get a result in Mexico. To go to Tijuana in that environment and pull off that win and get all that stuff thrown at us and feel like we weren’t going to get to the airport because someone was going to spike the tires on the bus … those are the experiences I’ll remember the most.

“We’re hoping to make the same memories this year.’’

Red Bulls coach Chris Armas recalled several years ago being a part of the CCL and “physically we were not ready, and there was a quick exit.’’

“We certainly know we’re not winning MLS Cup in February, but we can lose the Champions League if we’re not ready,’’ Armas said. “So we have to kind of have an eye on all of the prizes. Trophies mean a lot to us as competitors. Of course MLS Cup is out there. We’ll go for that again, for sure. But this is in front of us, so we’re going strong.’’