LAFC have El Tráfico, their cross-city rivalry with the LA Galaxy. Seattle Sounders FC have the Cascadia Cup, with no love lost for the Portland Timbers or Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
But do these Western Conference clubs also share a rivalry?
Key players on both sides believe so, expressing as much before Saturday’s Leagues Cup quarterfinal at Lumen Field (8 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
“We both have been near the top or top of the Western Conference since they came into the league,” said Sounders forward Jordan Morris. “To be an expansion team like that and to come in and to have the sustained success they've had is impressive. The Sounders have been the same.
“Obviously, when two heavyweights of the Western Conference go against each other like that, it's always going to be a good battle,” Morris continued. “We've matched up in a lot of knockout games, and at the beginning, we were getting the best of them, and now it's kind of switched a little bit. We've got to turn that back in our favor. In 2019 and 2020, we knocked them out of the playoffs. Last year they knocked us out of the playoffs. So hopefully we can get a bit of revenge tomorrow.”
LAFC in the lead
These matchups have grown even more one-sided than Morris indicated. LAFC are unbeaten in the last eight clashes (6W-0L-2D), not losing to Seattle since May 2021.
Just last month, the Black & Gold visited Puget Sound and won 3-0 behind Denis Bouanga's brace and a Mateusz Bogusz strike. The memory of LAFC's 1-0 triumph in the 2023 Western Conference Semifinal, sealed by a Bouanga golazo, remains fresh as well.
“It's funny how we keep seeing each other in these big matches,” said LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead. “I think it speaks to what both clubs have done. Seattle has been at the top of the Western Conference winning trophies, winning cups for the last five, seven years. And LAFC's been the same, so I think the rivalry has been bred more out of just both teams fighting for the top spot over the last handful of years.
“Because of that, we find ourselves at the end of a lot of these tournaments, the end of Open Cups, Leagues Cup, especially these sorts of tournaments that are more geographically located. We find ourselves playing each other often. It's created a rivalry.”
Little separation
Now, it’s all about adding another trophy. LAFC last accomplished that in 2022 with a Supporters’ Shield-MLS Cup double, and hope the summertime addition of French striker Olivier Giroud pushes them forward.
“These are always tight games,” said LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo. “They have a very good team, they have played in big games in the past, they've won some championships, so it's a high-quality opponent, it's an intense match. There's little room for error. The mistakes that are made are the opportunities that are given, and you need to capitalize on them.
“In the past few matches, our difference-makers have made big plays,” Cherundolo continued. “Everybody on the field has brought the intensity and the tactical discipline to beat a team like Seattle, especially in Seattle. Why that happens, I think it's maybe individual quality as one reason. The other reason is they are a possession-based team and we feel very comfortable without the ball [at] controlling matches.”
Semifinal awaits
For Seattle, might home-field advantage provide the needed boost? They’ve played the entire tournament thus far at Lumen Field, including last week’s 4-0 win over Pumas UNAM in the Round of 16.
Whoever advances will meet Club América or Colorado Rapids in an Aug. 21 semifinal. They’ll also move closer to clinching a 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup spot, awarded to the top three Leagues Cup finishers.
“We're not going to change who we are, we're not going to shy away from the game just because it's LAFC and we haven't had a result against them in a while,” said Seattle head coach Brian Schmetzer. “We're going to play the same way we do, we're going to try and be effective, we're going to try and limit the mistakes.
“We're also going to try and take a little bit of what Jordan alluded to with some of that home-field advantage," Schmetzer continued. "When the game was kind of there against Pumas and these guys brought their energy and the physicality, not in a bad way, you saw the reaction of our team. Then the crowd helped us, the atmosphere of that game helped us. We got in a good groove and we ended up winning the game. The same thing needs to happen against LAFC.”
