The Seattle Sounders know all about a CONCACAF Champions League hangover.
After becoming the first MLS team to win the competition in its current format last season, the Sounders missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history dating to 2009.
Los Angeles FC reached the CONCACAF final this spring before losing to Liga MX’s Club Leon 3-1 in the two-game championship round.
Seattle (8-6-4, 28 points) and LAFC (8-3-5, 29 points) are scheduled to meet Wednesday night in Los Angeles, with first place in the Western Conference potentially on the line.
LAFC went winless in its first three matches after returning to MLS, failing to score in any of them, before registering a 2-1 victory at Sporting Kansas City last weekend as Carlos Vela tallied in the 90th minute.
“It’s very nice to finally win,” said LAFC’s Mateusz Bogusz, a 21-year-old who played the full 90 minutes. “Now we come back home happy and we keep working next week because Wednesday we have another game.”
The Sounders had a bye last week and haven’t played since a 3-3 draw at Charlotte FC on June 10. Raul Ruidiaz scored twice in his return to the starting lineup following a hamstring injury. Seattle’s Cristian Roldan also tallied.
The Sounders likely will be without Roldan and forward Jordan Morris, who were expected to join the U.S. national team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
“When you’re a part of a good team, you will more than likely have guys going away with international duty,” said Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who leads the league with nine shutouts and has 100 for his career, just the third player to reach that mark. “That’s a sign of a good squad, of good individual players.”
LAFC figures to be without central defender Aaron Long, who will also be joining the U.S. team. The status of Denis Bouanga, who is tied for second in MLS with 10 goals, is unclear. The winger started and played 73 minutes for Gabon in a 2-0 loss to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday.
LAFC has a 7-5-4 lead in the all-time series against the Sounders. The teams played to a scoreless draw March 18 at Seattle.
–Field Level Media
