Toss it all out the window. Every last bit.
The Galaxy’s Major League Soccer record 13-match winless streak to start a season, including losing a game without conceding a shot. Three out of 39 possible points. A negative-21 goal differential. Last weekend’s 7-0 implosion at New York Red Bulls – a rematch of the Galaxy’s last league victory, the 2024 MLS Cup final on Dec. 7 – which equaled the largest margin of defeat in MLS history.
Meaningless.
Los Angeles Football Club unbeaten in half a dozen games. Six goals for Denis Bouanga over that stretch. A pair of shutouts in three games for an LAFC defense that’s allowed eight shots on target over 270 minutes. The only team with a winning record against the Galaxy last year.
So what.
Sunday’s 25th edition of El Trafico comes with the well-understood reality that whatever misfortune has befallen the Galaxy up to this point, and whatever confidence is currently circulating inside LAFC’s locker room, when the whistle blows at Dignity Health Sports Park neither circumstance means much.
Form. Positions in the standings. Injuries.
“If you judge the previous matchups against them, that all becomes irrelevant,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said. “It is another derby and we’re prepared and ready for it.
“Those games are kind of isolated on their own. I think nothing less on Sunday.”
Rivalries produce heightened intensity and emotion, which in soccer can lead to the unexpected. The broken, crazy and entertaining plays that define derbies around the world have boosted El Trafico’s lore the past seven years, as the Galaxy own a slim 10-9-5 edge.
“This is definitely a moment for them to look at, ‘Hey, we can turn things around if we get a result here,’ so I know how it goes,” said LAFC midfielder Mark Delgado, who should become the first player to suit up in El Trafico after moving from the Galaxy to the Black & Gold following a trade. “But on this side, we’ve got to be ready as well. Ready to control the game. Manage the game. Manage our emotions. Not let it get into this back-and-forth crazy stuff that it usually seems to get.”
The first L.A. derby of 2025 holds some unique propositions.
Will the Galaxy (0-10-3), which offered a clear statement by announcing a contract extension through 2028 for head coach Greg Vanney on Friday, avoid rock bottom?
Can LAFC (6-4-3, 21 points) keep trending upward leading into the May 31 FIFA Club World Cup play-in match against Club América at BMO Stadium, or will it have to shake off a psyche-altering outcome first?
Following a 4-0 win over Seattle on Wednesday, Cherundolo is in a positive frame of mind about the way the team stepped up since he revealed his departure at the end of the season.
“More importantly than how I feel is how our players feel and the comfort level they have with the way we’re playing,” the coach said. “Their performances and their reactions tell it all. I think they are communicating better. They are jelling. And now being able to rotate but maintain the same level of consistency and quality is an incredible tool to have as an organization. And we saw that for the first time against Seattle. If we could turn around against the Galaxy as well now, I think this would be a wonderful week for us at LAFC.”
That’s the thing about derbies, though. Spoiling a rival’s potentially wonderful week, which in LAFC’s case began with a draw at top-of-the-table Vancouver last Sunday, is one way they take on added weight and have the ability to resuscitate lost causes.
“We know they’re not having the best start to the year, but having been on the other side where the season’s not going my team’s way, we look at these kinds of games as ways to kickstart our season,” LAFC forward Jeremy Ebobisse, a veteran of the tense Seattle-Portland rivalry, said prior of his El Trafico debut. “I know that’s going to be an opportunity for them. We don’t want to be a part of that story.”
LAFC AT GALAXY
When: 6 p.m. Sunday
Where: Dignity Health Sports Park
TV/radio: Apple TV (MLS Season Pass), Apple TV+, Xfinity/710 AM, 980 AM
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