LAFC are concluding a singular season in singular fashion as they return to Orlando this week to resume their Concacaf Champions League campaign nine months after COVID-19 abruptly interrupted it and three weeks after the Seattle Sounders abruptly ended their MLS Cup Playoffs run.
They also view it as a singular chance at redemption, even as it extends a deeply weird and often frustrating 2020.
“Everyone knows that we were disappointed to be knocked out of the playoffs,” head coach Bob Bradley told reporters on Tuesday, one day before his side lock horns with Liga MX giants Cruz Azul (10:30 pm ET | FS2, TUDN in US; TSN5 in Canada). “And from that moment on, the focus has been again on Champions League, and so it's only been positive, it's only a sense of opportunity.
“It’s many, many years in a row of Mexican teams winning Champions League and our players are very aware of that. And so we know now that we're in the quarterfinals, we know everything about Cruz Azul and that it will be a big match, and we're excited to be here and to get going.”
As unconventional as the situation is, it may also offer unprecedented advantages for MLS teams hoping to overcome the league’s daunting history of CCL heartbreak. Much like MLS chose a central Florida “bubble” for its return to action with the MLS is Back Tournament in midsummer, Concacaf has elected to pitch up in Orlando for a neutral-site CCL resumption that could blunt the pronounced home-field advantage typically enjoyed by Liga MX and Central American clubs.
“This is an opportunity that has been presented to us, to be here to fight hand-to-hand with the Mexican teams,” said key LAFC midfielder Eduard Atuesta in Spanish. “I am not saying that it will be easy to beat them and become champions, but … it will be something more balanced and something more neutral for all the teams, and it will be quite attractive [to watch].”
LAFC entered the year as reigning Supporters’ Shield holders and a highly-touted frontrunner for MLS Cup, purveyors – at their best, at least – of some of the slickest, most irresistible soccer the league has ever seen. In that light, a quarterfinal exit at MLS is Back and finishing seventh in the Western Conference standings before falling to Seattle at the first postseason hurdle constitutes a disappointing season.
Much of that can be traced to defensive issues that saw them backslide from MLS’s second-stingiest back line (in terms of goals conceded) in 2019 to 20th this season. But the Black & Gold also overpowered Club Leon – who would go on to become Liga MX champions in the just-concluded Torneo Guardianes – 3-0 in their last CCL match, producing a remontada of historic proportions to win that Round of 16 clash back in February.
The extended absence of Carlos Vela over much of the year was a huge factor, too. And with his Mexican star fit again and ready to make the most of this one final chance at hardware, Bradley is optimistic.
“Yes, we believe that we can win Champions League,” he said. “We know that now we have a very big game in the quarterfinals. So we can't go too far ahead, but I certainly think that we took confidence from the game against Leon a long time ago. When we watched Leon win the [Liga MX] final, I think we were all reminded that we beat a very good team. And now the opportunity to do something special is there for us, and we know how important Champions League is also to our fans.
“So the motivation is really high and we believe that yes, we can be the team to do it. Carlos, I say it over and over, we know what he's capable of doing on the field. He’s a special player. And I know that within our group, when he is in good form, when he is on the field, it gives confidence to everyone.”
Cruz Azul, meanwhile, carry their own unique burden to Orlando. La Maquina looked like Guardianes favorites at the midway point of their liguilla semifinal vs. Pumas UNAM two weeks ago, thumping their feline opponents 4-0 in the first leg – only to suffer the latest in their club’s painful history of blown leads with a matching 4-0 second-leg rout that saw Pumas through to the final.
Dubbed cruzazuleadas, these epic collapses have become the stuff of legend, so much so that reporters asked Bradley for his take on the term on Tuesday.
“I have heard that before,” he said diplomatically, after praising Cruz Azul and their menacing strike force, led by Uruguayan star Jonathan Rodriguez. “In different teams around the world, there can be moments when maybe something hasn't gone their way and when it happens over and over again, this becomes part of the history of a team. And then you see over time, can they overcome that?
“It’s a challenge for Cruz Azul when you lose this kind of match. But when you have a big club, when you have still top players, our focus is on the best of Cruz Azul. We understand especially what they looked like throughout the season, in the first leg vs. Pumas. And so we prepare knowing what they're capable of.”
