After consistent failure in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, MLS teams always have had the same built-in alibis.

Too early in the year, too little time to prepare.

But not this season. There are no excuses for the Red Bulls. When they play their first-ever Champions League quarterfinal, hosting MLS foe Vancouver in the home leg at Red Bull Arena on Wednesday (8 p.m., Univision), the playing field will be level.

“Not only is it important that this franchise to do well in CCL, but this entire league,’’ goalkeeper Luis Robles said. “Up until now, no team from Major League Soccer has won. Montreal was very close, they got to the final, yet in the end they fell. … When you’re looking from [an MLS] standpoint, they’re looking at each team and hoping they do well, because that’s the ceiling we need to break through.”

D.C. United (1998) and LA Galaxy (2000) won the old CONCACAF Champions’ Cup. But since the competition switched to the CONCACAF Champions League format in 2008-09, no MLS team has taken the title. Just two have made the final, and just five have reached the semis. The quarterfinal stage has been a horror show for MLS, which the Red Bulls hope to change.

“We’re very fortunate in our pairing to go up against Vancouver, because one of the excuses or arguments that’s been made in the past is that MLS teams are pitted in an unfair situation, because its coming off preseason. Well, we have no excuse now,’’ Robles said. “We’re going up against a team that’s in the same situation as us.”

The majority of the teams remaining are powerful Mexican sides. MLS teams are 2-16 against Mexican clubs, with Liga MX going into Week 8 of its Clausura schedule while MLS won’t even kick off until next month.

“We’re limited by what the [collective bargaining agreement] said and what the union says. There’s no flexibility there,’’ coach Jesse Marsch said. “But we challenged them to put more into their offseason to make sure that when they came into preseason they were physically more prepared.”

The Red Bulls should be more prepared, with Vancouver missing four key attacking players. Yordy Reyna, Nicolas Mezquida and Christian Bolanos are hurt, while newly acquired Fredy Montero is still getting into game shape.

“They’re not all totally fit and they’re not all totally sharp. It won’t be the best match we’ve ever played,’’ Marsch said. “The benefit we have — and I think if you ask Vancouver, they’d say they’re in the same boat — is the fact that we play each other means we’re on an even playing field.”