Leagues Cup Final tonight
Columbus host LAFC tonight at 7:15 pm ET on MLS Season Pass and Univision. And don’t forget about the third-place game with a Champions Cup spot on the line at 4:30 pm ET.
Inter Miami clinch Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs spot
Inter Miami CF have punched the first Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs ticket. The Herons secured their place with Saturday's 2-0 win over FC Cincinnati, becoming the fourth team in MLS history to earn a playoff berth within the first 26 matches of a 34-game season.
Arango suffers injury
Real Salt Lake club captain Chicho Arango suffered a right hamstring tweak vs. the San Jose Earthquakes. The star striker left RSL's Matchday 29 home fixture in the 41st minute, limping off before getting replaced by Anderson Julio.
We’ll recap the full weekend tomorrow. Today, we have bigger things to address. There’s an MLS Cup rematch with a big trophy on the line.
It seems strange to say it after a year where LAFC played in two major finals, but it feels like they’ve come a long way since then. 2023 LAFC still had plenty of juice, but they came up short in the Concacaf Champions League Final and MLS Cup for a reason. They finished third in a weak Western Conference on 1.53 points per game for a reason. There were clear flaws in midfield, no alternative plans beyond the counter and hope Denis Bouanga makes something happen. The roster as a whole felt incomplete.
This year, Eduard Atuesta has helped reshape their midfield. Mateusz Bogusz has taken a major leap forward and become one of the most productive forwards in the league. And they can play styles that go beyond “screw it, Denis’ down there somewhere.” Bouanga is still putting up absurd numbers anyway, but he’s getting a lot more help. Now that includes Olivier Giroud.
They’re the genuine product... but they haven’t proven they can take down Columbus. The last time these two met, LAFC got run off their own field. The Crew pummeled them in a 5-1 mollywhopping. We’re only 42 days removed from that one. And the Crew have gotten better since then. They’ve brought in new midfielders Dylan Chambost and Aziel Jackson, plus wingbacks DeJuan Jones and Andrés Herrera. They’re deep and their starting lineup is still clicking at the same elite level they’ve been clicking at since the last few months of the 2023 season, even after the departure of Aidan Morris.
Bottom line: LAFC have a lot to prove today. The Crew only have to keep the status quo.
If Columbus can pull it off, we’re talking about them in the pantheon of all-time great MLS sides. Over the last year, they’ve played every possible game available to them. They came up short in the Concacaf Champions Cup Final against Pachuca, but two major trophies and three major finals in nine months are rare.
It’s arguably the best stretch in MLS history. To be fair to teams like 2017 Toronto and others who pulled in multiple trophies, they didn’t have a shot at Leagues Cup. But the Crew deserve a few extra degrees of difficulty points from the judges for operating in a small market without the budget of other elite teams.
Regardless of the narratives surrounding it, we’re in for a helluva match today. Both teams play dynamic attacking soccer and have rosters that are as talented as we’ve ever seen in MLS. The biggest question heading into this one is how LAFC will deploy that talent. Will they opt to put Giroud out there for his first start? Does Kei Kamara get the nod at the No. 9 spot? Or maybe they’ll opt for Bogusz centrally to try and take a more counterattacking approach against the Crew’s ultra-possession-based style.
Of course, moving Bogusz centrally would leave an open spot on the wing. Normally, that spot would be Cristian Olivera’s. But in between LAFC’s 4-0 win over Colorado and today, reports surfaced that Olivera is on his way to Toluca for a hefty fee. He will reportedly be available today in what could be his last appearance for the team, but it’s not clear if they’ll be willing to do more than use him as a sub.
Beyond the personnel choices, this is potentially a major tactical test for LAFC’s new 3-4-3 approach. It’s a setup they moved to after the Crew loss and a subsequent draw with RSL. They’ve steamrolled teams in all but one of the seven games since that shift, but it’s fair to wonder if they’re prepared to mirror the Crew’s setup in a final or if they’re going to move back to their 4-3-3 shape. Plenty of teams have tried and failed to go like-for-like with Columbus. However, if you're LAFC, are you going to try and fix what isn’t broken? A big tactical shift in a final didn’t go so well for them last year.
Maybe this time things will be different. Either way, I’m willing to go out on a limb and say this is the conclusion to the second film of a trilogy. I’m saving this newsletter and making it a template to reuse later. We’ll be talking about this same matchup in December, right before MLS Cup.
- Marco Reus had a dream debut with the LA Galaxy.
- Luis Suárez sent Inter Miami to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
- New England are eyeing the playoffs after making "big, bold moves."
Good luck out there. Don’t wait around to accomplish key tasks.
