Tuesday, March 4 | 7:30 p.m. PT
🏟: BMO Stadium - Los Angeles, CA
🖥: FS2
Tuesday night at BMO Stadium LAFC plays host to the Columbus Crew in Leg 1 of their Round of 16 matchup in Concacaf Champions Cup. The match is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. PT and can be watched live on FS2. Tickets are available here.
The matchup reprises one of the most contentious East vs. West rivalries in Major League Soccer in recent years. No two clubs have won more trophies since 2018 (the year LAFC entered MLS) than LAFC and Columbus. No two clubs have competed against one another for trophies more often in that time.
The Crew defeated LAFC in Columbus in the 2024 Leagues Cup Final and in the 2023 MLS Cup Final as well, when Columbus prevented LAFC from repeating as MLS Cup Champions.
Prior to that, LAFC had won all three of its matches against Columbus by a combined score of 7-0. Two of those regular-season wins came at Lower.com Field in Columbus, where the second leg of this Concacaf series will be played, on Tuesday, March 11.
Tuesday night’s first leg will be the Crew’s first appearance in this year’s Concacaf Champions Cup (CCC). As Leagues Cup Champions in 2024, Columbus was allowed to skip Round One. LAFC eliminated the Colorado Rapids in Round One by scoring an away goal in Leg 1, which resolved their 2-2 aggregate-goal tie.
The winner of this two-leg matchup against the Crew will advance to the Quarterfinals to face Inter Miami or its Round-of-16 opponent, Cavalier FC of Jamaica.
WHO ARE THE CREW
Led by head coach Wilfried Nancy, Columbus has started its MLS regular season with two wins in two games for the first time since 2018.
A month ago, the Crew transferred All Star forward Cucho Hernández, last year’s MLS MVP runner-up, to Spanish club Real Betis. Nancy’s current roster remains stout, and includes former LAFC winger Diego Rossi, who provided one of the greatest moments in the Black & Gold’s short but illustrious Concacaf history.
In 2020, LAFC trailed Club León 2-0 on aggregate in the Semifinal before shocking the powerful Mexican side with a 3-0 win in Los Angeles. Rossi’s chipped goal from the left wing provided the final margin that pushed the Black & Gold into the Quarterfinals, and made LAFC the first U.S. club in Concacaf Champions Cup history to eliminate a Liga MX team after facing a multi-goal, first-leg deficit.
Rossi was part of LAFC’s original roster in 2018, scored the first goal in club history, and became the youngest Golden Boot winner in league history by scoring a league-best 14 goals for LAFC during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
At the back of its formation, Columbus just signed goalkeeper Patrick Schulte to a contract extension that runs through 2027. Schulte, 23, represented the United States in the 2024 Paris Olympics and excelled for Columbus during its Concacaf run in 2024, winning the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament award as well as Best XI honors.
Columbus reached the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup Final last June, but was defeated by Liga MX’s C.F. Pachuca.
Last time the Crew visited LA, in July 2024, they defeated LAFC 5-1, ending the Black & Gold’s club-record unbeaten streak of 13 games across all competitions.
Last Saturday in MLS regular-season play, Columbus defeated the New England Revolution 1-0 in sub-freezing weather in Massachusetts. Jacen Russell-Rowe scored Columbus’ only goal, his second in as many matches.
STRAIGHT OUTTA COLUMBUS
In the offseason, LAFC acquired former Crew wingback Yaw Yeboah. The 27-year-old Ghanaian, who saw time on the back line and in the midfield during LAFC’s 1-0 victory over NYCFC Saturday night, played the last three seasons in Columbus, where he helped the Crew win Leagues Cup 2024 and scored the game-winning goal against LAFC in the 2023 MLS Cup Final. Yeboah made 74 regular-season appearances for Columbus overall, scoring four goals and registering 12 assists.
WHAT IS CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP?
North American club soccer’s biggest prize, Concacaf Champions Cup is a 60-year-old competition that pits the 27 best clubs on the continent against one another until a champion is crowned in June. That champion earns an invitation to the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup and 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup. Each matchup in each round features two legs—one at each club’s home stadium—and is decided on aggregate goals (total goals scored). June’s CCC Final is a single match, winner-take-all affair.
LAFC reached the Concacaf Champions Cup Final in each of its two previous appearances, in 2020 and 2023.
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LAFC CAN WIN IF
Its defensive organization continues to hold firm while its new blend of attackers finds its groove. LAFC has won three straight matches across all competitions, each by a 1-0 scoreline. “If you’re not pumping goals out then you need to work defensively and keep games close,” head coach Steve Cherundolo said after Saturday’s home win over NYCFC. “Just being a lopsided offensive powerhouse, to me, is not enough. We meant to create more chances and not have just a one-goal cushion, but if that is not happening then you cannot fall asleep and you cannot cut corners on the other side of the ball. We are currently not doing that and I’m proud of the effort.”
COLUMBUS CAN WIN IF
It leaves Los Angeles with a draw. In this two-leg format, the Crew, coming off its frigid outing in New England just 72 hours earlier, would be thrilled to leave BMO Stadium with an aggregate-goal tie, especially if they manage to score an all-important road goal. The focus for Nancy and his men will be on returning to Lower.com Field with a chance to advance to the Quarterfinal.
