After a somewhat disappointing 1-1 draw with Columbus Crew last week, Los Angeles Galaxy will be playing in their first match of CONCACAF Champions League, the group stage.
Last season, they started off strong. They even made it to the quarterfinals of CCL. However, as I’ve mentioned in previous articles, LA Galaxy got off to a really bad start this season, not only in MLS, but also in CCL.
They played Toronto FC in the quarterfinals. In the first leg of the quarterfinal, LA went to Toronto and came back from 0-2, to draw 2-2. The second leg was at the Home Depot Center, where LA should’ve had home field advantage. All LA needed to move on the semifinals was a win, a 0-0 draw, or even a 1-1 draw. Unfortunately, at the time, LA was still experimenting with their defense and paid the price. They lost 2-1 and the only goal scored for LA was actually a TFC own goal. With this loss, they were out of the competition, knocked out by one of the worst teams in MLS (at the time).
For the first match this go around, LA Galaxy will be playing Isidro Metapan, a club from El Salvador.
LA will most likely have a strong backline, Todd Dunivant, Omar Gonzalez, AJ DeLaGarza, and Sean Franklin. They will also have Captain Landon Donovan and David Beckham, two players who were missing in the Columbus Crew match.
The way LA has been playing lately, I think they have a good chance of winning. As always, the DPs and the backline need to do their part. My prediction for this game is 2-1.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
