Galaxy dotted with stars
Revs face roster full of talent
FOXBORO — Gillette Stadium should be busier tonight than it has been all season as the Revolution host the LA Galaxy in a much anticipated match.
Los Angeles leads the alltime series, 18-16-7 including 3-0 in postseason meetings. The Revs, however, have an 11-6-3 edge in Foxboro.
All that aside, all eyes will be on the Galaxy’s hard-tomiss 6-foot-5 star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swedish forward is arguably one of the greatest players of this generation. The 36-yearold striker has logged time with legendary sides, including Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, A.C. Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United.
He represented Sweden twice in World Cup play (2002, 2006) and has been capped 116 times by the national team. He is Sweden’s all-time leading scorer with 62 goals during international play.
Ibrahimovic is renown for abilities in the air, in tight spaces and just plain as a finisher. He has 11 goals in 14 games with the Galaxy.
Yet, he is not the lone star with the Galaxy, who have a roster that includes French midfielder Romain Alessandrini, Norwegian striker Ola Kamara, plus midfielders Giovani dos Santos Ramirez and his younger brother Jonathan, both of Mexico’s national team.
This game pits mentor against pupil as LA coach Sigi Schmid recruited Revolution coach Brad Friedel to UCLA.
“Every year the Galaxy is going to have several real good players. This year is no exception,” said Friedel. “I think the forwards that they have are going to go forward and try to score a little bit more than what Seattle did (during a 0-0 draw). In saying that, they do hit an incredible amount of long balls. If they do that then we have to be ready for it and play the second ball.”
The Revs trained inside the stadium yesterday, using a short field and displaying a higher tempo. Friedel cautioned not to read anything into the session.
“The day before a game there’s very little tactical work involved,” he said. “We just wanted to have sharp session and focus their minds on the game. We’ve had a real good week of training and in preparing for this game. We’ll have a big crowd behind us. It’s a big opportunity to go out and get three points. Three points is the only thing that is acceptible.”
The Revs hope to extend their current seven-game unbeaten streak, which includes two wins and five ties. That would match the club’s longest unbeaten run since an eight-game stretch in 2015.
By garnering the three points, the Revs would eclipse the 30-point plateau after 19 games for only the fourth time in club history and first time since 2008. A victory would also hand the Revs seven of a possible nine points on the threegame homestand, which is followed by 10 of the next 15 on the road.
“Every game, home or away, is equally important. As I’ve said many times before, I think Amercan sports gets too caught up in the home or away aspect,” Friedel said. “I think with the group that we’ve put together that we should be able to get maximum points, no matter where we play.”