'Opportunity' -- LA Galaxy Making Most of Leagues Cup Despite Dismal Season


'Opportunity' -- LA Galaxy Making Most of Leagues Cup Despite Dismal Season

Marco Reus and the LA Galaxy will face Liga MX's CF Pachuca in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

If there was a team that needed the 2025 Leagues Cup the most, it was the LA Galaxy.

Amid one of the worst seasons in club history, which saw them end with just three wins in 24 MLS regular-season games, they found something to play for, even as they sit last in the Western Conference with 16 points in 24 matches.

While many past MLS seasons would have likely seen them play no consequential games after a poor start, they grabbed the lifeline that the Leagues Cup offered, and are now just two wins away from the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.

Needing a win by more than three goals against Liga MX's Santos Laguna on Thursday, the Galaxy scored in the first minute, on their way to a 4-0 win. The victory brought them to seven points in three matches, with a previous win against Club Tijuana and a penalty shootout loss to Cruz Azul, placing them third among 18 MLS teams.

The top four of the participating MLS teams qualified for the Leagues Cup quarterfinals, and the Galaxy now look ahead to a knockout match against Liga MX's CF Pachuca, with a chance at a semifinal and either a third-place match -- with Champions Cup spot on the line -- or a final.

"This tournament is an opportunity. We were at home and we had done enough work in the first two games to put ourselves in a position to control our own destiny," head coach Greg Vanney said after the defending MLS Cup champions qualified. "I think as we've navigated this tournament, it's shown what we knew that we had some of this capability inside of our group."

Even with the slow start to the season, there were several reasons why the Galaxy couldn't find their footing.

Their best player, Riqui Puig, has yet to play a game after tearing his ACL in the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs Western Conference Final, and other key players like Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec dealt with injuries of their own.

Meanwhile, Christian Ramírez had struggled to step up to fill the gap left by former striker Dejan Jovelic, and Marco Reus had struggled for form. It all combined into an ugly and disastrous start to the season.

Yet, things began to turn the corner this summer, and the Leagues Cup offered a chance to show their level when relatively healthy -- albeit without Puig. In their last 11 matches, the Galaxy have a 5-2-4 record, and have scored 25 goals, 10 more than they have conceded.

Meanwhile, they've rediscovered the form that brought them to last year's undefeated MLS Cup-winning season at home, with five wins in their last seven matches at Dignity Health Sports Park.

"We knew we had some of this capability inside of our group, and it was all about getting it together and getting guys connected," Vanney added. "I think it shows we have a good team and we're tough to play against. The results emotionally are great for the group, because we took such an emotional beating in the start of the season."

While the return to form may not bring the Galaxy much closer than their current 14-point gap to the final MLS Cup Playoff spot, it has added a much-needed reprieve and uplifting spell amid an otherwise forgettable campaign.

Yet, before they can take on Pachuca, they return to MLS action for one match, against the Seattle Sounders, who topped Phase One of the Leagues Cup, and could add further damage to the dismal MLS campaign.

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