LAFC will do little mingling with East

Through three seasons, no Major League Soccer team has scored more points and won more matches than the Los Angeles Football Club.

Regular-season dominance, an abundance of highlights and a Supporters’ Shield built up the club’s reputation as a menace on the field since it debuted in 2018.

A consistent and focused push to elevate how American professional soccer looks and competes against the world has colored everything LAFC said it set out to do.

That drive was on display when LAFC outplayed three top Mexican clubs to earn the right to represent the MLS in the final of the CONCACAF Champions League late last year.

Losing a tightly played contest to Liga MX’s Tigres UANL in late December represented the end of a run that had been earned over several seasons.

Year number four, starting at home on April 17, means the chase to qualify for opportunities within and beyond MLS begins anew for the club’s ambitious front office and coaching staff.

LAFC’s opener against league debutant Austin FC is its first of all but two regular-season clashes against the 13-team Western Conference. Austin is one of six teams in the West that will play three matches against LAFC.

MLS unveiled a full regular-season schedule on Tuesday that features limited mingling between teams in the East and West.

Like each squad in the 27team league, LAFC will play an even split of 34 home and away matches in 2021.

Among its Eastern opponents, LAFC received challenging assignments against New York City FC and Atlanta United FC.

Otherwise, LAFC won’t charter a flight east of Minneapolis for league play, which suits it fine since the club owns the best record in its conference over the last three years — 34-18-13 — one win more than the perennial Western power Seattle Sounders, who knocked LAFC out of the 2019 and 2020 MLS Cup playoffs in L.A.