LAFC, Galaxy grouped together
Rivalry will renew after draw is revealed for MLS Is Back restart tournament.
LAFC and the Galaxy were placed in the same group Thursday for next month’s MLS Is Back tournament, assuring the crosstown rivals will resume their feud in the made-for-TV event.
LAFC is the top seed in the group, which also includes the Houston Dynamo and Portland Timbers.
Ninety minutes before the tournament’s virtual draw began, MLS announced that Orlando City, the host team, will play expansion club Inter Miami in the July 8 opener of the 54-game, 35-day competition.
What was touted by the league as a blind draw also paired the two Ohio teams, Columbus and Cincinnati, in Group E, Canadian rivals Montreal and Toronto in Group C, Pacific Northwest neighbors Seattle and Vancouver in Group B, and Midwestern foes Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City in Group D — a series of remarkable coincidences if that happened by chance.
The tournament will make MLS the first major professional league in the U.S. to return from the COVID-19 shutdown that halted play in sports three months ago. The competition, to be held behind closed doors but in front of TV cameras at the sprawling ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., will conclude with a championship game Aug. 11.
“The culture of our club is whatever, we’re in, we’re going to try to win,” LAFC general manager John Thorrington said. “We understand the concerns of staff, of players, of the league. And this is a herculean task. It’s going to require a monumental effort from everybody.”
LAFC could be playing without its captain, league most valuable player Carlos Vela, who is expected to skip the tournament and stay in Southern California with his pregnant wife.
“We are going to address it on a case-by-case basis,” Thorrington said. “We understand players have unique circumstances and habits and we’ll work with players.”
Galaxy star Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, whose wife is also pregnant, said he will play. The Galaxy are expected to resume full team training Friday for the first time in three months. LAFC spokesman Seth Burton said his team hopes to be cleared to begin small-group workouts this week.
The MLS tournament will have a $1.1-million purse and the winning team will receive a berth in next year’s CONCACAF Champions League.
Teams will play three games in the first round, with the top two finishers in each of the six groups, plus the four third-place teams with the best records, advancing to the knockout rounds.
The group-play results will count in the standings when MLS resumes regular-season play in late summer, by which time the league expects teams will be cleared to play games in their home markets. The 34-game season was suspended March 12 after two matches.
Tournament rules will allow teams to make five substitutions each match — two more than usual — and teams will be able to use a match-day roster of 23 players, five more than the usual limit.