CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy are certainly familiar with their opening-round foe for the MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by AT&T, and they're impressed with what they see.
It's the second straight year the Galaxy and Real Salt Lake have met in the Western Conference semifinals, and after close head-to-head battles this season – one win, one loss, one draw, with a 2-2 aggregate – the Galaxy are expecting a stiff challenge.
Which team will win the series?
In the first leg Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium (8 pm ET; NBCSN, get tickets here), the Galaxy (17-7-10) are hoping to negate RSL's home-field advantage.
“I think Salt Lake is a great team,” Swedish midfielder Stefan Ishizaki said following LA's training session Wednesday morning at StubHub Center. “They're great on keeping the ball, keeping possession, and they play really narrow with their diamond system [in midfield], and it's tough. Especially when you play away on [4,450-foot] altitude, and they'll just keep the ball, and it gets you fatigued, and that's when they break you down and create chances.”
RSL (15-8-11) won last year's playoff series, using set pieces to pull out a 2-0 overtime victory in Utah after dropping a 1-0 decision in the first leg. In 2011, the Galaxy romped 3-1 in the one-game Western Conference final en route to their MLS Cup title. In their first playoff meeting, RSL beat the Galaxy on penalties in the 2009 MLS Cup.
The series has been close – LA lead in all MLS and playoff games 13-12-7 but have been outscored 49-47 – and the Galaxy note there are similarities between the teams, at least in how they approach the game.
“I think the way they play is similar to ourselves,” midfielder Baggio Husidic said. “They play inside a lot with their midfielders – you've got Ned [Grabavoy] and [Luis] Gil and [Luke] Mulholland – and they don't really stay out wide. They let their outside backs overlap. … They've got a proper No. 10 [in Javier Morales] who conducts their attack, and they've got [Kyle] Beckerman, a key player in the whole MLS, and, obviously, did a great job for the US [at the World Cup]. … They're a fun team to watch. They play good soccer.”
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Said left back Robbie Rogers: “If you look at possession, we're probably the two teams that have the ball most of the time and complete the most passes.”
A key for LA is neutralizing Morales and Beckerman in midfield to limit the opportunities Joao Plata and Álvaro Saborío have up top.
“I feel like all of their ball movement goes through Kyle and Morales,” Rogers said. “Gaining the ball from defenders, I think Kyle does a great job of that, and then Morales always finds little spaces and plays those through balls, which is really dangerous. And then, obviously, Plata's had an amazing year.
“They can hurt you from a lot of different areas. They're a little bit like us. So we're going to have to play as a team, defend as a team, and attack well, as well.”
