LOS ANGELES – Before LAFC started their inaugural campaign, there was a feeling that the rivalry matches against the LA Galaxywould be the expansion club's most important of the season.
According to Carlos Vela, that may no longer be true.
“It’s one game,” Vela said before tomorrow’s contest. “It’s just football, just a game, and we want to win.”
That the LAFC attacker would downplay the occasion is understandable in light of the season his squad has had thus far.
Despite a 5-1 loss at Minnesota last week, LAFC have been among the stronger teams in the league. They enter Week 22 sitting second in the Western Conference while also reaching the U.S. Open Cup semifinals.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy — who finished last in MLS in 2017 — have had a recent resurgence, winning their last three and climbing into fourth in the West, two spots behind LAFC.
“The first game was a long time ago,” Vela said after training Wednesday. “Both teams have improved.”
The Mexican international believes the passage of time may benefit his side more than the Galaxy, since LAFC have had to build an on-field identity from scratch.
“When we played the first game we were a new team building some system, some form of play," Vela said. "I think now we are a really good team. We know how we want to play and we are ready to fight.”
While Vela downplays the importance of the match in one aspect, he also hoped even before the first El Trafico derby at StubHub Center in March that the rivalry could eventually live up to the stage it sits on — Los Angeles itself.
“It’s a big city so we want to [have] big games.”
The Galaxy's 4-3 come-from-behind victory certainly had plenty of grandiose moments. And with shifted expectations since that first match, Vela hopes for the same this time around but with a different result.
“I hope tomorrow we can do a similar game but the win for us,” he said. “We have to play better. When we play at home we have to take the responsibility to get the ball, to move the ball, to play our football and I hope we can do it. We are a strong team at home and I hope we can stay this way.”
Indeed LAFC is unbeaten across all competitions in their 12 home matches since opening Banc of California Stadium on April 29. It's form Vela hopes continues when they face a Galalxy side that likely will include both Giovani and Jonathan dos Santos, and a team Vela believes could be battling LAFC for playoff positioning down the stretch. Both dos Santos brothers — two of Vela's international teammates — missed the first encounter.
“It’s important because we are in the same conference," Vela said through a translator. "We have to win these couple of games because we are in the end of the season. If we look to play playoffs, it’s important to be in the top of the league. We know it’s a really important game not only because it’s the other team in L.A. but because we are playing for [playoff positioning].”
That said, Vela understands how much the occasion may mean to the new club's supporters.
“It’s nice to feel the love they show us and it’s our responsibility,” he said. “We have more pressure, in a good way, to win, to play well, to try to give back all the love they show. So we are really motivated to [have] a great game.”
