Xavi Hernandez has taken 32 players on the US summer tour, including three new faces: Iñigo Martínez, Ilkay Gündoan and Oriol Romeu. They have faced FC Nürnberg, MLS All-Stars and Manchester United so far as they prepare to take on Monaco in the Emirates Cup Final on August 5th. They were supposed to kick things off against Juventus on July 22nd, but the game was ultimately cancelled due to a stomach virus that affected most of the squad.Īrsenal, meanwhile, will get to face Barça with many more preseason matches played. The fixture might only be four years old, but like any great rivalry it has roots that go deep.Barcelona will finally get to play their first friendly of the summer preseason. This is why El Tráfico carries greater weight than any other MLS rivalry at this moment in time. “Our fans know what it means, their fans, they know what it means,” Julian Araujo said in anticipation of Thursday’s match, and he’s right. Chicharito and Vela might be former Mexico teammates, but this rivalry has placed them on different sides of a divide. If Thursday’s El Tráfico produces goals, as it usually does, it’s likely Javier Hernández (11 goals in his last 13 games for the Galaxy) and Carlos Vela (four goals in his last four games for LAFC) will be involved. Puig has lifted the LA Galaxy’s level by almost every metric. Unlike Bale, though, the 23-year-old has changed the landscape for his new team – the Galaxy were ninth in the West when the midfielder joined from Barcelona, but finished the regular season in fourth. They too made a big-name summer signing, luring an attacking difference-maker from Spain in the form of Riqui Puig. The LA Galaxy have won four of their last five games, including Saturday’s round one victory over Nashville. Steve Cherundolo has more talent at his disposal than any other MLS head coach right now with LAFC so stacked in attack that Gareth Bale has been largely limited to substitute appearances since joining in the summer. LAFC will kick off Thursday’s derby as the 2022 Supporters’ Shield winners and No 1 seeds for the playoffs. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.īoth teams are strong. For more information see our Privacy Policy. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. They are the Real Madrid of MLS and stand a good chance of achieving their own ‘La Decima’ this year with Greg Vanney’s team peaking at just the right time as the postseason takes off. On the other hand, the LA Galaxy exist to win – and they are very good at it, having lifted more MLS Cups (five) than any other franchise. LAFC believe they are the team of the people – their people. Everything from the downtown location of Banc of California Stadium to the design of the badge, which features the famous wings of the City of Angels, has been geared towards a specific community. LAFC prides itself on being the team of the Angeleno. Nothing comes close.Įl Tráfico is more than just a match, it is a question of identity. Nor does the Texas Derby (FC Dallas-Houston Dynamo), the Canadian Classique (CF Montreal-Toronto FC), the Atlantic Cup (DC United-New York Red Bulls) nor the Rocky Mountain Cup (Colorado Rapids-Real Salt Lake). New York City FC and the New York Red Bulls have produced some compelling contests since facing each other for the first time in 2015, but the Hudson River Derby doesn’t have the edge of El Tráfico. Photograph: Matthew Ashton/AMA/Getty Images Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal in the first-ever Los Angeles derby remains a famous moment in MLS history.
0 kommentar(er)
