Few clubs enter the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs with as much big-game experience or star power as Western Conference No. 1 seed LAFC.
Case in point? The Black & Gold have made MLS Cup presented by Audi the last two seasons, winning in 2022 and losing in 2023, and have reached six finals across the last three years.
Now, as LAFC chase a third straight MLS Cup appearance, they're again equipped with one of the league's deepest rosters, bolstered by the addition of French national team legends Hugo Lloris and Olivier Giroud.
"I think there's a sense of excitement from everyone and I think that's probably standard of every club at this stage of the season," head coach Steve Cherundolo told reporters before Sunday's opener vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BMO Stadium (9:45 pm ET | Apple TV - Free; FS1, FOX Deportes).
"Our guys are experienced – they've already been through it and so they understand the mechanisms. Hugo and Olivier are doing it for the first time, but both are quite experienced and have partaken in postseason tournaments, whether it's a European Championship or a World Cup. They know the importance of being able to focus for a 3-4 week period, or in our case 5-6."
While LAFC are among the MLS Cup favorites, their Round One Best-of-3 Series opponent is coming off a galvanizing victory: Led by Ryan Gauld's hat trick, Vancouver just demolished Cascadia rival Portland Timbers, 5-0, in Wednesday's Wild Card match.
The matchup might even prompt déjà vu for LAFC, who dispatched Vancouver in Round One last year.
"It's very clear it's a team on a mission," Cherundolo said.
"They're a good team and they're excellent at seizing on mistakes from opponents, but also creating mistakes. I think it's a very underestimated team that has a lot of quality."
This is new territory for a player like Lloris, in his first season with LAFC after a legendary run with Tottenham Hotspur and a 2018 World Cup victory with France.
The 37-year-old is a finalist for MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, marshaling a defense that supplements a high-flying attack led by Denis Bouanga, Mateusz Bogusz and Giroud.
"I would say culturally playoffs are big – that's the big moment for US athletes," Lloris said. "A player like me, coming from [Europe], it's something I'm obviously going to experience for the first time. But I think you can find some similarities with different competitions in Europe, like when you start to reach quarterfinals, semifinals of a big competition like Champions League or even FA Cup or French Cup.
"This moment, I've been in that position, even in different contexts or environments. But I've been in this type of moment in my career."
