Revenge.
It’s a juicy concept for anyone, and practically irresistible when it crops up in sporting contexts, which was definitely the case at midweek for both LAFC and the Columbus Crew when the two sides booked their places in Sunday’s Leagues Cup Final at Lower.com Field (7:15 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Univision).
Scores to settle
This of course is a rematch of last year’s MLS Cup title bout, also hosted by the Crew, a highly impressive 2-1 win in downtown Columbus just nine months ago that dethroned the reigning champs from Los Angeles and capped a storybook first season in charge for Wilfried Nancy.
His counterpart Steve Cherundolo won’t need to remind his squad of the emotional toll from that setback. And the Crew’s jaw-dropping 5-1 thumping of LAFC in a league visit to BMO Stadium on July 13 can only raise the hackles further.
“We are going to be ready,” vowed the Angelinos’ star winger Denis Bouanga in French in the aftermath of their 4-0 rout of the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday. “It’s not going to be like last year’s game. There’s a feeling of revenge and we’re going to be eager to win that game.”
Yet the R-word was on the lips of at least two Crew figures, too, albeit applied in a different context.
“Yes, it's a good revenge,” said star striker Cucho Hernández, who scored one goal and laid the groundwork for another in his team’s 3-1 dispatching of the Philadelphia Union in the semifinals. “I think it's going to be fun for us, for the city, and nothing, nothing more.”
Columbus crave redemption
This is Columbus’ third cup final under Nancy, the more recent a stinging 3-0 defeat at CF Pachuca in the decisive match of the Concacaf Champions Cup on June 1. It featured an unusually muted performance from the Ohioans, who afterward revealed that most of their traveling party had been laid low by diarrhea and other symptoms of food poisoning within hours of touching down in Mexico.
With that compounding the sapping effects of Pachuca’s sky-high altitude and the undoubted quality of Los Tuzos, the Crew were doomed on the night, leaving a bitter taste that they hope to wash away on more familiar turf this weekend.
“What happened in Mexico is unfortunate. I think for me, it was unfair, but whatever, I'm not going to talk about this,” wingback Mohamed Farsi said. “What's good with football is you always have the opportunity to, how we say, revenge. You know, not revenge against the same team, just revenge for yourself. And, yeah, we're going to go there and try to win a trophy and win us a bye for the Champions Cup in 2025.”
That last part is notable, even if it’s a sidenote to the more immediate dopamine hit from a trophy hoist and a cash prize. The top three finishers in Leagues Cup qualify for the following year’s CCC, but the winner enjoys a first-round bye, a useful perk given the continental tournament’s intensive physical demands. Notably, both of this year’s CCC finalists entered the tourney in the Round of 16.
With that Pachuca nightmare still reverberating, Columbus are happy to be hosting this one.
“I think we were really distracted with the circumstances of what was going on, so we didn't really, I don't want to say lived in the moment for it. But yeah, maybe we were a bit distracted in that sense,” said striker Christian Ramírez, a Southern California native who played for LAFC in 2018-19. “Now that we're able to be at home on Sunday, be with our families, stay on a normal schedule and prepare, definitely will be enjoyable to have it here.”
Third time's the charm?
And it’s quite conceivable that LAFC would take a measure of satisfaction from striking back at the Crew on the same pitch where they tasted heartbreak in December.
“We have to engrave it in our head that finals need to be won. It does not matter how we play, but we need to win. We will work for that objective,” said center back Jesús Murillo in Spanish. “We prepared to be in a final and we achieved it. Now it’s most important to come back home with the trophy.”
For all the plaudits showered on Nancy and the assertive, aesthetically pleasing style of play he’s installed in the Yellow Football Team, Black & Gold boss Steve Cherundolo has an inviting opportunity to remind everyone why he’s widely ranked as one of MLS’s brightest young coaches.
“They have quality players. They are very set in their ways,” Cherundolo said of the Crew. “They have ways of tweaking their formation a little bit to deal with solutions from opponents. They’re quite good, very confident and excellent at home, so we have our work cut out for us.
"But I do think tactically nothing crazy is going to happen to either group. It should be a tight game. I know our group is looking forward to a rematch.”
