A coveted Concacaf Champions Cup berth is up for grabs on Wednesday night in Los Angeles when LAFC hosts familiar Western Conference foes Colorado Rapids in a Leagues Cup Semifinal at BMO Stadium.
“This scenario, a home game in the semifinals against a team we know? I couldn’t ask for more,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo showed excitement. “I think it’s also important that we have the right mentality from minute one tomorrow to not let this opportunity slip away and to take advantage of it.”
Of course, four Liga MX teams have had similar mentalities coming up against Colorado in elimination matches thus far and have gone down one by one (including two by way of shootout) injecting the Rapids with confidence on their tournament path to the semifinals.
“As footballers, as coaches, those types of games, those types of performances, those types of wins, drama, against a team like Club América, four Mexican teams in a row,” listed Rapids head coach Chris Armas. “Only this can give teams [and] individuals real self-belief that they can hang with anybody [and] that they can win.”
That conviction will be necessary on Wednesday as the Rapids come up against one of the biggest powerhouses in MLS that won two trophies in 2022 and appeared in three finals in 2023. Luckily, based on their journey thus far, Colorado feels equipped to fight for victory in regulation or penalties, if need be.
“In our world here, the margins are thin and in penalties, they’re even thinner. Is it a coin toss?” Armas posed rhetorically. “Maybe not. [When] you have a good goalkeeper, he can sway things which I think he did with a goal himself and a big save. When you also have technical players with a lot of self-belief and confidence, they also can sway those moments because sometimes it is about being up for the moment and not being fearful of it, to stand up and stand tall.”
Indicating the reference to his No. 10 during the final part of his sentence, Armas motioned toward attacking midfielder Djordje Mihailovic sitting next to him.
Both men would love to see the newly christened Olympian replicate his performance from the club’s March meeting in which he scored a stunning brace in the final minutes alongside his opening assist to beat LAFC 3-2 at home.
On the road, however, Colorado has never beaten LAFC since the Angelenos joined MLS in 2018 but they possess one of their best squads since that point and are in their best form. Originally on loan, Brazilian striker Rafael Navarro signed permanently and has been scoring all year including two goals and an assist in Leagues Cup. Similarly to Mihailovic, players who have returned from European stints have contributed to the Rapids' resurgence this season including fullback Sam Vines, midfielder Cole Bassett, and as mentioned, goalkeeper Zach Steffen who has produced 23 regulation saves and two penalty-shootout wins in the past four matches.
LAFC fell in their only Leagues Cup shootout this season to Vancouver in the group stage but has plenty of reason to believe they can find success in that discipline, or just win during regulation as they have been doing.
Like Colorado, the Black and Gold boast one of the best goalkeepers in MLS with France’s World Cup-winning captain Hugo Lloris in peak form between the sticks having recorded two clean sheets and two assists to Denis Bouanga in his last three matches.
With Lloris’ assistance, Bouanga has become the all-time highest Leagues Cup goalscorer (11) and goal contributor (17) as the reigning MLS Golden Boot winner chases another individual accolade at the top of the 2024 Leagues Cup goalscoring charts (5). Just one goal behind him is teammate Cristian “Kike” Olivera who has lit up Leagues Cup this season as fellow 22-year-old sensation Mateusz Bogusz has done throughout the MLS season.
New additions will also boost the Black and Gold’s attacking threat with the likes of box-to-box midfielder Lewis O’Brien who made his debut in the quarterfinal in addition to legendary French striker Olivier Giroud who made his debut in the Round of 16.
Should they earn a spot in the final, qualification is rewarded with a berth in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup — a tournament which both LAFC and Colorado failed to qualify for this season despite appearing in 2022 with LAFC reaching the final.
“That is definitely an objective for the club and for myself,” Bouanga noted CCC implications. “We didn’t play this year so it’s a beautiful opportunity, this game, because if we win it’s a double win because we go to the final and we ensure our spot in the Concacaf [Champions Cup].”
If unable to earn a CCC spot on Wednesday, the losing team will have a second opportunity to do so in the third-place game on Sunday but both teams would much rather be spending that day playing in the final instead.
In a game Cheundolo described as “trying to catch an eel with your bare hands”, both teams will look to avoid letting prey slip out of their hands and take one step closer to lifting a trophy.
