CARSON, Calif. -- The LA Galaxy are going to miss all three of their suspended players in Saturday's showdown against Atlanta United FC (5 pm ET | FOX in US; MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada), but, of course, one loss towers over the others.
Replacing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, serving a one-game ban for yellow-card accumulation, is the greatest challenge LA (12-9-1) face in Georgia, forcing head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto to alter the attacking approach.
Efrain Alvarez's and Diego Polenta's absences, after red cards in last weekend's 4-0 loss at Portland, mean every line is impacted, although LA has greater depth on the backline and especially in midfield.
Ibrahimovic has in 18 games scored 16 of the Galaxy's 30 goals this year — nobody else has more than three, and center back Daniel Steres is the guy with three — and his presence and the magic he so often summons greatly impacts how opponents defend LA.
“Going to Atlanta is never going to be an easy game ... and with the travel and everything, it's going to be tough,” attacking midfielder Sebastian Lletget told MLSsoccer.com. “People always say, 'Without Ibra,' and we really depend on that guy, but if you're missing any key player, it's always going to be a different game.
“I think we do have other weapons. Maybe we just have to push the game a different way without those guys. We'll see what happens.”
Schelotto has options up top — in striker Ethan Zubak and wingers Chris Pontius and Uriel Antuna — but none of them ideal.
Antuna was remarkable when given the assignment, with Ibrahimovic injured, in the March 16 home victory over Minnesota United. The rising Mexican, who scored four goals (including a hat trick in his El Tri debut) in the Concacaf Gold Cup, pestered the Loons' backline and midfield through constant running.
“Uriel was amazing,” said Lletget, who notes he's ready to return to the starting lineup if needed after returning last week from a pelvic injury. “It created so much space for us as midfielders, and I think that was probably, looking back, the game we most dominated as a whole. He [gave us] just a different dimension. I think we have to sort of find a way to do something like that [in Atlanta] and replicate what we did against Minnesota.”
Antuna says he's comfortable up front – “at the beginning of my career, I played as a forward, so I have an understanding of everything you have to do in that position” – but Schelotto likens the scenario to “three people in the front but none of them is a real striker.”
That's true, too, with Pontius, although he has been a fill-in up top his entire career. He's coming back from a hamstring injury, hasn't seen action since June 2 and last started on May 8.
“I'm more comfortable out wide, but it's a role I need to go in and perform if I'm asked to play that position ...,” Pontius said. “[Not having Ibrahimovic] changes [things] because what he adds gives us a different dimension to the team. What his skills are maybe aren't [strengths for] whoever plays up top, so we have to figure out a different way to attack.”
Zubak is the only other pure striker on the roster. He's played only 40 minutes over three league games but went the full 90 in the U.S. Open Cup loss at Portland and nearly the distance in the Leagues Cup opener against Club Tijuana. He has four goals in 11 USL Championship starts with LA Galaxy II.
“It would be a great opportunity, for sure,” he said. “Now that I've officially got all the nerves out [with the performance against Tijuana], it's just the perfect opportunity.”
Schelotto says the team will manage without Ibrahimovic, Alvarez and Polenta.
“Our challenge will be with other names on the roster to get something in Atlanta. We need the points,” he said. “Win or at least to tie -- we need to learn that when you can't win, you have to tie. It's not win or lose. ... You can't win, you have to tie, no loss.”
