CARSON, Calif. — Zlatan Ibrahimovic loves the feel of derby clashes, and he expects that Southern California's rivalry will one day take its place among the best.
That day hasn't come, but he'll do what he can to help propel it forward.
“I mean, it's the fourth game now,” the LA Galaxy star noted in advance of Friday night's showdown with LAFC at Dignity Health Sports Park (10 pm ET | ESPN; TSN2). “In the future, they will look back at all these games we've played, and it will be historical games. The first game, I don't think people will forget that. And that will stay on. ... In the future, it will be even bigger.”
It's already among Major League Soccer's most heated rivalries and takes on added meaning this year as LAFC (14-2-4) soar atop the Supporters' Shield and Western Conference tables and the Galaxy (11-8-1) position themselves, after successive campaigns that fell short of the playoffs, among the better sides in the league this year.
And there's more to it for the Galaxy, which are coming off their worst performance of the year, in which they were completely dominated by California Clasico rival San Jose Earthquakes, and need to get back on track fast.
Ibrahimovic says it's a “good moment” to take on LAFC — “they have all the pressure on them, because they're the favorites, they're the overall No. 1, and we play at home” — after addressing the issues that doomed the Galaxy last week.
“I think that was a good wake up call,” midfielder Servando Carrasco told MLSsoccer.com. “We all know that we didn't play well, and [San Jose was] very, very good. They played a good game. It allows us to address certain things that maybe, you know, we win [on July 4] against Toronto, and when you win, you're positive. You don't really think about the mistakes as much as when you lose.
“It gives us a chance to kind of focus on those mistakes and see what we can do better, because a lot of the things that [San Jose] presented, LAFC kind of does, as well. They're very dynamic in the attack, so it gives us a little bit of a glimpse of what they're going to play like. We've done video this week, we've addressed the things we didn't do well, so, if anything, it should prepare us for what we'll see.”
Ibrahimovic, who has netted 13 of the Galaxy's 27 goals this season, has done the most to define the young series. He scored twice in his MLS debut as LA rallied for a 4-3 home victory last March — his first strike, a 35-yard volley, was MLS's Goal of the Year — assisted the first goal as the Galaxy overcame a two-goal deficit for a late draw at Banc of California Stadium in late July, then scored LA's lone goal in a 1-1 home draw in August.
He has a knack for stepping up on the biggest stages.
“If you have experience from Europe playing the derbies – the El Clasico you have in Spain; you have Inter-Milan, the Milano Derby, you have Marseille-Paris Saint-Germain, you have Manchester United-Liverpool — then you feel the heat,” the Swedish superstar said after the Galaxy's training session Wednesday. “That keeps me alive. That keeps me on my toes. It gives you energy, it gives you adrenaline.”
Has he felt that heat against LAFC?
“I mean, it depends. It depends,” he replied. “It's up to me to make that heat. First game I succeed, the fans went crazy. Second game was different — it depends on the game, also. The fans do their job, we have to do our job.”
The Galaxy certainly need a victory. They started the season strongly but have dropped four of their last five home games and lost a solid grasp on second place in the West, falling behind the Seattle Sounders last weekend. At their best, they play marvelous soccer — it helps when Romain Alessandrini and Sebastian Lletget are on the field; both will miss Friday's game with injuries — and last week demonstrated what can happen when they're at their worst.
“We know we have an important game we must win,” midfield general Jonathan dos Santos said in Spanish. “We have to win, we can't give our opponents any advantage. We can't continue to lose games at home.”
The Galaxy are confident they won't.
“We feel like if we play our best, we should win this game,” winger Emmanuel Boateng said. “They're a good team, don't get me wrong, but if we play our best and we play organized soccer, then we can get the result that we need.”
Lletget, who hopes to return next week from a pelvic injury, wishes he could play.
“It's one of the most exciting games to be part of in this league, I think,” he said. “Everybody in this city lights up. You walk onto the field for warmups, and you can already feel the hostility. It's nice, it's nice. It's what the environment should be like every game, really, but it's a special occasion, and we'll all be ready for it.”
