These two teams are rivals, so check back in after they play the Leagues Cup final
Darlington Nagbe isn't ready to call it a rivalry quite yet. Denis Bouanga isn't either. It's getting there, though. When two teams are this good and run into each other this often, there's bound to be some strong feelings behind it.
Sunday's Leagues Cup final isn't just a final. It isn't just a match with a trophy on the line. It's not even just about defining a competition still yet to be defined. For the two teams playing in it, this is a chance to be the unquestioned best. Sunday's matchup is a chance to show who really runs the show.
On one side is the Columbus Crew, MLS' defending champions. Last season's MLS Cup winners have hardly missed a beat, establishing themselves, once again, as a contender. If you wanted to design a perfectly-constructed MLS team, the Crew would be pretty damn close. From top to bottom, from the front office to the last guy on the bench, the Crew are the benchmark.
Standing across from them is another team that continues to set the pace in this part of the world: LAFC. Since the club arrived in MLS, LAFC has been elite. This team's vision centers around proving that it can do things better than everyone else, and truthfully, they have.
Last year they did better than almost everyone else. LAFC made it all the way to the MLS Cup final before falling to, of course, the Crew. Now, nine months later, these two teams are meeting again with another trophy on the line.
And yes, there are still some hard feelings on both sides.
"You start to see it a little bit in the lead-up to it," Crew forward Christian Ramirez told GOAL. "There were a couple of comments and interviews that they've had about revenge and about writing us down as the favorites and stuff like that, which, to be fair, they can say all that stuff, and maybe that's their motivation and something that pushes them, but we just have to stay in our lane and do what we've been doing."
Added Bouanga: "I don't think there's a rivalry yet. Columbus is a very good team. Tomorrow is a final, but it's a different kind of match. We're looking forward to playing tomorrow, and this is going to be a different game than it was at MLS Cup."
GettyMLS Cup after-effects
Whatever happens on Sunday, it's part of an overall story, and a story that is still being written.
Realistically, it began in Columbus on Dec. 9. It was on that day, in front of a home crowd, that the Crew outlasted LAFC to lift the MLS Cup. In the months since, it's become quite clear that that match wasn't a fluke or a one-off. These teams are here to stay.
That's why they're both in the the Leagues Cup final, having outlasted the best Liga MX and MLS can throw at them. Nine months later, there's still some bitterness that could very well define this latest clash.
That part began in July when the Crew thumped LAFC 5-1 in their first rematch. Ahead of the next one, LAFC midfielder Ilie Sanchez told the media that he wants them to proclaim the Crew as favorites, reigniting some of the tensions ahead of this finale.
Will that carry over? Will recent results factor into Sunday's meeting?
"I think it always depends on the game and how the game starts," Nagbe told GOAL. "It could just feel like another game against another opponent, or it could start a little chippy or things are said here and there. You won't know until the game starts how the game is going to feel or going to go."
Hugo Lloris wasn't on the team last year. He only joined LAFC this winter. He knows plenty about bouncing back, though, and he can sense that LAFC are eager to do just that.
"When we lost the Euro final against Portugal at home, we managed, two years later, to win the World Cup," the French star told GOAL. "I think in every situation that you face, there are a lot of things to learn from. Obviously, it's a new season and it's a different competition, but what we can say is that we are going to face the best team in the league right now. They are full of confidence. They managed to play the final of the Champions League League and they are in good form in the regular season.
"I think there is everything there for a big game, and we just hope to manage the game in the way we want and to get that trophy."
AdvertisementMLS MediaThe Crew keep rolling
The Crew, by their own admission, started slow. It happens. They played to the last possible game last season, had about a month off, and then were right back at it for preseason ahead of a CONCACAF Champions Cup run. They made it to the finale of that, but ran out of gas, losing to Pachuca.
This summer, though, the Crew have figured it out. Cucho Hernandez is scoring goals in bunches. The midfield, led by Nagbe, has survived the loss of Aidan Morris. Pieces have been added and head coach Wilfried Nancy continues to pull strings. The Crew are as good as ever.
"It was catching our second wind a little bit," Ramirez says. "We came down from that high of winning MLS Cup, and then immediately focus on CONCACAF Champions Cup to be able to then make a run at that and continue to still stay relevant in the league. That took a lot of energy. We weren't training as much as I know Wilfried would have liked and sometimes that can lead to flat performance.
"Once we were able to get a few days off and then get on the training pitch for two weeks, I think it really helped us to get our minds sharp and ready to go. It was almost like a little in-season mini-preseason for us. I think it's the right time for us to peak and then start to level out for league play again to then make another run at this."
Since May 15, the Crew have lost just twice in all competitions. The defending MLS Cup champions look ready to defend and add a bit more along the way. The team standing in their way, though, is a much different one than the one they've seen in the past.
USA Today ImagesLAFC's big stars
With LAFC, it all starts with Bouanga. He's a menace, potentially the best player in MLS. He scored 38 goals in all competitions last season to lead them to MLS Cup. This season, he already has 22 goals. He's the star, the player that the Crew will be keyed in on from the opening whistle.
"I enjoy it. I like the pressure," Bouanga says. "I think big players come from big matches. I like being decisive whether I'm scoring or I'm assisting. This is where I shine."
Bouanga isn't alone. LAFC added Lloris this winter, bringing in the ex-Tottenham goalkeeper to further solidify their defense. And, just this summer, they added Olivier Giroud, France's all-time leading goalscorer.
The league hasn't seen much of Giroud, who has been limited to appearances off the bench, but the ex-Arsenal and AC Milan star could very well make the difference as he looks to win a trophy in his first few weeks as an LAFC player.
"He's a player that talks a lot about his experience," Bouanga says. "He brings leadership. He opens space for me. We have a team that can really defend, which allows us to be aggressive in our style."
Added Giroud's long-time teammate Lloris: "He is looking forward to playing in the game (Sunday) because he's still looking for his first goal with LAFC. I think (Sunday) is probably the best moment to do it, but in the end, I think he is the kind of player who would prefer to win and not score. That's his mentality, but if he can do both, that's even better."
USA Today ImagesEstablishing a culture
There are clear differences on both sides of Sunday's final. LAFC represents glitz and glamor, the Hollywood lifestyle propped up by superstars. The Crew, meanwhile, come off as more blue-collar in comparison.
Make no mistake, though: these two teams have far more in common than they do differences.
Ramirez has seen both sides. He was a member of LAFC for the club's first two seasons in 2018-19. After stints with the Houston Dynamo and Aberdeen, he's now in Columbus, where he scored a key winner in last season's Eastern Conference final to pave the way for the club's MLS Cup triumph.
So what do the two teams have in common? Culture, and a commitment to it.
"You have to have a clear identity," Ramirez said. "It's about, first, how you want to play, but also the type of person you want to bring in to fill that void of players who possibly leave or left. From top to bottom, everybody needs to feel like they're contributing so that you never feel left out.
"For myself, for example, early on in the year, I wasn't involved much, and then got injured, and then got an opportunity, and now I'm here. I never felt like I was fully out, and it goes for anybody on the roster: they feel really involved throughout. I think that that goes a long way to earning respect on the player side for the front office staff and coaching staff. It's great."
Lloris has only gotten a glimpse of that culture, but that was what got him in the door in the first place. He didn't have to come to MLS to play with LAFC but, after meeting with the club, he knew he wanted to.
"To be honest with you, when I met the LAFC people, this is how they presented to me," he said. "The club is really ambitious. Every time you are engaged in a competition, you try to win it, and that's what we are trying to do. In this League Cup, obviously, it's been a really busy schedule, but we managed to get stronger and stronger. Now we just need to make sure that we are ready for the final. This is the most difficult step in this competition, but I'm really looking forward to playing that game."