3 takeaways from Sunday's MLS Conference Championship action

On Sunday night, the four remaining teams in the MLS Cup Playoffs battled it out in the first leg of the conference championships. The Columbus Crew picked up a 2-0 win over the New York Red Bulls at MAPFRE Stadium and the Portland Timbers defeated FC Dallas 3-1 at Providence Park.

With the first leg now wrapped up, these four teams prepare for the second leg, which will act as the deciding match in these two series. The winners will move on to the MLS Cup final.

There were some beautiful goals scored in the first leg, as well as a dangerous away goal stolen by Dallas; Columbus forward Justin Meram broke the fastest playoff goal record, too.

Here are three takeaways from the first leg of the conference championship round:

Revamped Red Bulls showing vintage signs of failure

The New York Red Bulls haven't enjoyed much success in the MLS playoffs, despite competing for the MLS Cup in all 20 seasons since 1996.

That the Red Bulls have only made the final once, in 2008, is concerning enough - coincidentally, the Red Bulls lost that final 3-1 to the Crew - but, historically, the Red Bulls also often crash out in the round of eight.

During the course of the regular season, these Red Bulls looked unstoppable at times, but against the Crew, New York suddenly looked like its old self. The performance of the team's captain, Dax McCarty, summed up that unwanted resurgence nicely enough:

Is it done and dusted in the Eastern Conference Championship? Not quite. The Red Bulls could pull off a 3-0 win at Red Bull Arena and advance to the finals, but they'd do so in opposition to precedent and history.

Portland's feel-good story heads toward happily ever after

Sunday night saw the Portland Timbers enjoy one final hurrah at Providence Park, and the Timbers Army was in full force on the occasion:

No matter what happens in the Eastern Conference Championship, the Timbers will be heading to either Red Bull Arena or MAPFRE Stadium for the MLS Cup final, based on the seeded standings from the end of the regular season.

But, on this, the final day in Portland, the fans were as loud and as passionate as ever. Timber Joey had the pleasure of slicing three pieces of his felled tree as Portland defeated Dallas 3-1. And, with a big win wrapped up, Portland now has a chance to avenge its failures in the 2013 semifinals.

There will be no stars on display in the MLS Cup

This was the season of superstars in Major League Soccer: Sebastian Giovinco, Frank Lampard, David Villa, Steven Gerrard, Andrea Pirlo, Kaka, Didier Drogba and Giovani Dos Santos all joined various MLS clubs this season to compete for the MLS Cup.

Why, then, are Kei Kamara, Darlington Nagbe, Dax McCarty, and Fabian Castillo the heroes of the 2015 season?

It's an interesting paradox; Columbus, Portland, New York and Dallas sit on top at year's end, but they're among the lowest-paying franchises across the league. The Red Bulls and Dallas feature the two lowest salary totals, period, while Portland and Columbus are in the bottom 10 of the 20-team league.

Their team-first approach has paid off tremendously: These four teams, built with 11 equals, utilizing systems that work for their players' unique skills and strengths, all underlined with a philosophy of balance, have dominated the league in 2015.

There are no stars to market for the 2015 MLS Cup, only football teams who know how to play the game as one - how very odd.