Chicago Fire have signed veteran striker Robert Lewandowski on a two-year deal after his Barcelona contract expired. The 37-year-old joins MLS as a free agent following successful spells at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, with Chicago hoping his prolific scoring record can help end the club's long wait for another MLS Cup.
MLS awards the regular season winners with the Supporters' Shield and a direct berth in the CONCACAF Champions League, the continental tournament. The top nine teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs. The eighth and ninth seeds in each conference play a wild-card match to determine who advances to the first round. The first round consists of best-of-three series, with the higher-seeded team hosting the first and third matches (if necessary). The conference semifinals, conference finals, and MLS Cup final are single-elimination matches. The team with the better regular-season record hosts each match.