Your Saturday Kickoff: Every El Tráfico ranked from last to first

What you need to know

Soccer

Today. Starting at 7:30 pm ET. And featuring matchups like FC Cincinnati vs. New York Red Bulls, Columbus Crew vs. D.C. United, Inter Miami CF vs. Colorado Rapids, Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Toronto FC and, of course, El Tráfico. Check out today’s full schedule here.

Messi returns to Miami's matchday roster

Lionel Messi will be available for selection in Inter Miami CF's Matchday 8 home clash vs. the Colorado Rapids (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass). But that doesn't mean the superstar No. 10 is a lock to play. Minding long-term health, plus next Wednesday's Leg 2 road match against Monterrey in the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal (a stated priority for Miami), assistant coach Javier Morales made no guarantees about Messi's involvement on Saturday.

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El Tráficos, ranked

The league’s most chaotic rivalry is back today at 7:45 pm ET. It’s tough to call it the league's “best” rivalry since teams like Portland and Seattle claim to have been in a blood feud since the Magna Carta got signed, but recent history tells us there’s nothing like El Tráfico. It’s a must-see event every time and, this year, the Galaxy might be the better side for the first time… maybe ever?

That, of course, almost certainly means the Galaxy are doomed to a hilarious fate in this one, but you should still tune in. It’s kind of like how millions of people used to watch the same procedural TV shows every week. It wasn’t about “if” the quirky detective solved the crime, it was “how.” In the case of this rivalry, it’s not about “if” both teams are forced to go through multiple existential crises over 90 minutes, it’s “how.”

We’ve seen plenty of examples of this over the years. Some are better than others. So, to celebrate the return of our most bedlam-inducing match, let’s look back at each meeting so far and see if we can determine the benchmark tonight’s match needs to reach to be the best of El Tráfico so far.

LAST: 2020 | LAFC - 6, LA - 2 & LAFC - 0, LA - 2 & LA - 3, LAFC - 0 & LAFC - 2, LA - 0

We begin with the 2020 games no one remembers or wants to revisit. Let’s just move on.

14. Aug. 24, 2018 | LA - 1, LAFC - 1

A… very standard 1-1 draw that didn’t live up to the hype? Even the goals were unimpressive. There’s an argument this is technically the weirdest non-2020 meeting between these two for how normal it was.

13. May 25, 2022 | LA - 3, LAFC - 1

A US Open Cup romp for the Galaxy that saw them go up 3-0 before LAFC got on the board late. Kévin Cabral scored in this one. No one got called a “clown.”

12. April 9, 2022 | LA - 2, LAFC 1

Similar to the above game, but at least LAFC came back to make it interesting with a late goal from Chicho Arango.

11. April 16, 2023 | LA - 2, LAFC - 3

10. July 8, 2022 | LAFC - 3, LA - 2

9. July 19, 2019 | LA - 3, LAFC - 2

It’s tough to rank so many 3-2 games so low, but the most common El Tráfico scoreline is also one of its least interesting. In all three of these games, the winning team went up 3-1 before a late goal made it 3-2. For other rivalries, these might be near the top of the list. Not this one. Anyway, the 2019 3-2 gets the nod in this group for Zlatan’s hat trick.

8. Sept. 16, 2023 | LAFC - 4, LA - 2

Same with the 3-2s. It’s weird to have a 4-2 game this low on the list, but that’s what you get with this matchup. The Galaxy never led, but they did come back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits before LAFC finally pulled away with goals in the 75th and 84th minutes.

7. May 23, 2023 | LAFC - 0, LAG - 2

A pretty standard Open Cup win for the Galaxy against a heavily-rotated LAFC side became legendary when Riqui Puig over-celebrated a goal and ticked off Giorgio Chiellini. Chiellini saw Puig speaking to the media after the game and loudly declared Puig a “payaso.”

6. Aug. 25, 2019 | LAFC - 3, LA - 3

Just your casual, run-of-the-mill, 3-3 game. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Latif Blessing traded braces in the first half, but the Galaxy took a 3-2 lead into the break. Carlos Vela found an equalizer at the start of the second half and, somehow, this one stayed at 3-3. This one may have lacked the drama of some of the other matches on this list, but you have to commend the two teams for slamming on the gas right at the green flag.

5. July 4, 2023 | LA - 2, LAFC - 1

In front of the largest crowd in MLS history, these two put on a show at the Rose Bowl. 82,110 saw Tyler Boyd score a stunner to open the game, and Riqui Puig followed up the “payaso” jab with a remarkable winner that saw him sprint the length of the field to get on the end of a cross.

4. Oct. 24, 2019 | LAFC - 5, LA - 3

The first of two Audi MLS Cup Playoffs meetings between these two went off the rails. Carlos Vela gave LAFC a 2-0 lead before Cristian Pavón and Zlatan Ibrahimovic brought things level. LAFC took another two-goal lead moments later before the Galaxy got back within one. At 4-3, Adama Diomande finally put this one away in the 80th minute.

3. July 26, 2018 | LAFC - 2, LA - 2

The follow-up to (spoiler) the No. 1 game on our list. The Galaxy found themselves down 2-0 to LAFC for most of the game after allowing two goals in the opening 20 minutes. But Romain Alessandrini and Ola Kamara found the net in the 82nd and 86th minutes, respectively, to earn the Galaxy a draw that felt like a win. The equalizer coming on a hilarious back pass to Kamara firmly established this game’s reputation for comedy.

2. Oct. 20, 2022 | LAFC - 3, LA - 2

The second playoff meeting delivered even more than the first one. LAFC took a 2-1 lead in the 80th minute thanks to Denis Bouanga, but Dejan Joveljic tied things up at 2-2 five minutes later. Moments later, in stoppage time, Chicho Arango pushed the ball over the line on a corner to give LAFC a 3-2 win, a berth in the Western Conference Final and the biggest win in this rivalry’s history.

1. March 31, 2018 | LA - 4, LAFC - 3

Come on.

It had to be the original. It’s the only single game I’ve been asked to do a full feature on for a reason. You might remember that the people “wanted Zlatan” so, per Zlatan, Zlatan “gave them Zlatan.” It’s one of the moments in MLS history and it would take something beyond our imagination to top it.

Other things

Inter Miami star Suárez named MLS Player of the Month: Inter Miami CF striker Luis Suárez is the MLS Player of the Month for February and March 2024. During his first month in the league, Suárez recorded five goals and three assists as Inter Miami sit tied for second place in the Eastern Conference.

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