The Los Angeles Galaxy will try to win their league-record sixth MLS Cup without star player Riqui Puig when they host a New York Red Bulls side looking for its first title in club history on Saturday in Carson, Calif.
The Galaxy have been by far the most dominant performers of the postseason, winning all four of their playoff matches in regulation while outscoring opponents by a combined 16-3 score.
But the Western Conference second seed will be without Puig after the Spaniard suffered an ACL tear last Saturday in a 1-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders in the Western Conference title round, in which he contributed the game-winning assist.
“There’s not another player in the league, honestly, that’s like him,” Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said of Puig. “And he’s special and unique, and he does special things for us. He can turn a game on a dime in one quick play, and he’s extraordinary. We’re going to have to take up that slack in a collective way, both with and without the ball and how we move the ball quickly.”
But while Puig had a brilliant season with 13 goals and 15 assists, he also was part of the league’s most balanced attack.
The Galaxy are the first-ever MLS side to have four double-digit regular-season scorers, with the remaining trio of Dejan Joveljic, Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec all healthy. Joveljic has been the most in form, scoring five playoff goals, including the match-winner against Seattle.
Meanwhile, the Red Bulls have reached this stage for just the second time in club history through the strength of an exceptional rearguard and some timely scoring.
First-year head coach Sandro Schwarz’s group finished seventh in the East after a second-half slump, in which they won only three of their final 18 regular-season contests.
But influential veteran attacker Emil Forsberg missed most of those games with a foot injury before returning in time for the playoffs. And a tactical switch to a back three has helped the Red Bulls keep clean sheets in all three of its road victories during their playoff run.
Schwarz also watched his side take 29 points from its first 16 league games before Forsberg went down.
“For a lot of people outside from this club, it’s the biggest surprise,” Schwarz said of his team’s playoff run. “For me, we are feeling very well that we are now able to play a final on Saturday, but it was, I would say also that we played … most of the time in the regular season in a very good spot, and we played with a very good quality.”
The Red Bulls lost their previous MLS Cup final appearance 3-1 to the Columbus Crew in 2008, and are one of three founding MLS members that has never lifted the Anschutz Trophy. This will be LA’s 10th final appearance, but its first since 2014 after an extended wayward run.
Vanney was a defender on the first three Galaxy teams to reach the final, with each ending in defeat. He owns one MLS Cup title as a coach in three finals appearances with Toronto between 2016 and 2019.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the group of people who started and are a part of this, started this process and are a part of it today,” Vanney said. “Now it’s our job to go try to finish it off. But this is the expectation of the LA Galaxy. It’s what our fans expect, and it’s what the brand has expected because of the legacy and the history that’s been created here.”
–Field Level Media