Olivier Mbaizo returns from a knee injury right in time for the Union’s playoff opener

Mbaizo suffered a knee injury earlier this month while with Cameroon’s national team, and missed the regular-season finale.

Olivier Mbaizo (left) lines up a pass in front of Mikael Uhre during the Union's training session at the Subaru Park practice fields on Tuesday.Read moreJonathan Tannenwald

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published Oct. 24, 2023, 2:23 p.m. ET

Union right back Olivier Mbaizo was a full participant in practice Tuesday, giving the team’s back line a key boost ahead of Saturday’s playoff opener against New England (5 p.m., Apple TV).

Mbaizo suffered a knee injury earlier this month while with Cameroon’s national team, and missed last Saturday’s regular season-ending loss at New England. The Union initially expected him to miss up to six weeks, but he was right in the middle of the action on the training fields Tuesday.

Backup left back Matt Real was a mostly full participant after rolling an ankle last week. Union manager Jim Curtin judged the Drexel Hill native to be in fine shape. But Real tapped his own brakes as he left the field, telling The Inquirer that the ankle still felt a bit tight.

The only absence was centerback Jakob Glesnes, who was given a maintenance day off as he deals with the long-term effects of a groin injury.

It was a long session, with an emphasis on attacking play for a team that won just two of its last 10 regular-season games.

Free streaming on Apple TV

Saturday’s game will be free to watch on Apple’s streaming platform, without having to pay for the MLS Season Pass subscription package.

The Apple TV app is accessible on any Apple device, plus a wide range of non-Apple devices including Roku and Amazon Fire Stick. For Android and Windows devices, the best thing to do is to watch through a web browser at tv.apple.com.

All eight first-round games scheduled for Saturday through next Wednesday will be free on Apple, including the five set to be televised on Fox cable channels. FS1 will have the games in English, and FS2 and Fox Deportes (which has the World Series) will split the Spanish broadcasts.

Fans worried about being stuck in Phillies traffic on I-95 leaving Subaru Park on Saturday got a bit of a reprieve when the Texas Rangers won the American League pennant. That means the World Series will start Friday in Texas. The flip side, alas, is that the Phillies won’t have home-field advantage — and, of course, they have to get there first.

The Union’s game Saturday should end at around 7 p.m. In MLS’s new playoff format, a tied game at the end of regulation goes straight to penalty kicks instead of having 30 minutes of extra time first. Though there will be the usual traffic jams getting out of Subaru Park, fans at least will have some time to head home before the World Series’ 8:03 p.m. first pitch.