After much speculation and a week of non-committal responses, midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger will not start for the Chicago Fire in Wednesday's Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs opener against the New York Red Bulls (8:30pm ET | FS1, UniMás; TSN, TVAS). He is, however, on the bench:
The former German international played a total of 19 minutes for the Fire in the last seven matches to end the regular season, missing six of the matches due to injury.
Chicago's 18-year-old Homegrown Djordje Mihailovic will get the crucial start alongside stalwart – and erstwhile RBNY d-mid – Dax McCarty. Juninho also is featured in Veljko Paunovic's midfield, making his first start since Sept. 9.
