Stu is completely homering his call tonight........... Should have been 3-0 Leon. 2-0 at worst. Leon got Concacaf'ed in their own building!?!?!?!?!
Total BS. They've played maybe 3 games since the CCL Semis, and ran out what was essentially a MLS NeXT Pro side in the open cup against the Galaxy too.
The tempo was frenetic and there was very little midfield play at all. Leon's free flowing shape and short passing gave LAFC a lot of trouble in wide areas and they never really dropped into a block when LAFC had the ball either. What Tillman described as "not playing very tactically" was just bad phrasing for the fact that Leon's game model doesn't fit very cleanly into the systems LAFC use to control the game in MLS (even against the ball).
No argument here, but it‘s gonna take a decade of CCACAF calls heading our way before I start to feel bad. My friends in Mexico never felt bad when it went their way. That‘s futball! Also shows the swing (power) MLS is starting to enjoy. Things are changing. That being said I honestly would wager on Leon next match. They looked good in the semis and they look just as good now. Teams have a hard time coping with them when they play like this. Frenetic is a good word which was used in a previous post. LA may be a darling but Leon is the team on a mission.
2023 CONCACAF Champions League Home team first, times are CT Look for tv coverage on FS1/2 and TUDN. Finals First Leg Wednesday, May 31 Club Leon (MEX) 2-1 Los Angeles FC (USA) Second Leg Sunday, June 4 Los Angeles FC (USA) v. Club Leon (MEX) 8:00 pm FS1/TUDN The winner of the final will earn the right to play in the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup AND the expanded Club World Cup in 2025.
Didn’t watch the whole game but from what I saw Leon left too many great chances on the table. Only 2-0 on home soil is going to leave room for a quality side to stay in it even if LA didn’t get the late goal.
That's why this match on Sunday bears quite a lot of significance for MLS. If LA are able to prevail, it would guarantee at least half the CONCACAF contingent would be from MLS.
Very much up in the air, but I think LAFC at least gets the game into extra time if not wins after 90min. They’ve won every game at home this season except for a tie a couple weeks ago against San Jose and a very early season CCL game.
One of the big differences between LAFC's potential title run and last year's Sounders run is that the 2022 Sounders had a history of playing meaningful games in Mexico, including within the 2022 championship run. LAFC's 2023 run has not been against any Mexican teams until yesterday. Their 2020 run did have one game in Mexico against Leon in the round of 16, but all the rest were played in Orlando. I count only two LAFC players in the lineup yesterday who were also in the lineup in the 2020 game in Leon - Vela and Palacios - and, of course, the coach was different as well. It's possible the relative lack of experience of playing Mexican teams in Mexico impacted their performance yesterday.
The atmosphere was intimidating and Leon fed off the energy in an equally impressive manner. All in all could’ve been much worse for LA. That’s probably a 4-0 rout during the doom era of MLS in the CCL.
I found out last night when looking at the schedule at the top of MLS Soccer dot com. It took me a moment to process that LEO is not a regular season opponent. NASCAR is going long of course.
For those who have never attended a concacaf event...the vibes are surreal. The gates opened 2 hours earlier than normal and I got to park about a mile from the stadium (despite buying the same parking pass as every other game). Leon fans are out in force but its probably 75/25 at least LAFC. Nothing beats not getting the normal pregame ritual because concacaf/fox wants their skycam to swing across your broadcast. Saw Marcelo Balboa in the pregame show for TUDN. Leon did a victory tunnel esque agility warm up with the subs cheering them in in the corner with the away section to finish their warm ups. Is it a full moon tonight? Acosta, Murillo (expected) and Chiellini starting???? Wild...pregame fireworks? I guess so...have fun watching tonight everyone.....go LAFC!