Chris Armas and the Colorado Rapids waited a tad longer than they hoped, but a chance at quick redemption comes Tuesday.
After losing to the Los Angeles Football Club, 4-0, last summer in the 2024 Leagues Cup semifinals at BMO Stadium, Armas wanted to run it back as soon as possible.
“I want to play them,” the Rapids head coach said that night. “Give us another crack at them in the playoffs. Let’s learn from it and get better.”
The Rapids earned a spot in the MLS postseason but were swept by the eventual champion Galaxy in the first round, so a rematch with LAFC didn’t materialize. But because Colorado (ranked 46th out of the 47 teams in the Leagues Cup field) followed its Leagues Cup semifinal loss with a win in Philadelphia, it finished in third place and earned a coveted spot in the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
As it happened, a few months later the tournament draw delivered what the Rapids wished for.
Last Tuesday, LAFC visited Denver for Leg 1 of the competition’s first-round series. Frigid conditions and an icy field was a polar bear plunge into the season for LAFC, which lost 2-1 to a determined, maturing Rapids group that played feeling like they “got this,” Armas said. “We went out there to win the game, to attack LAFC.”
The circumstances might have been a shock to LAFC’s system, but sensations on the other side of emerging from frozen waters can have their benefits. The Black & Gold appeared invigorated for their MLS opener against Minnesota on Saturday, limiting chances, dominating possession and ultimately engineering a decisive team goal that Jeremy Ebobisse drilled into the upper corner to complete a 1-0 win.
Thanks to Aaron Long’s header late in the game in Denver last Tuesday, which halved the deficit on a crucial tie-breaking away goal, a shutout victory would carry Cherundolo’s team through to face Columbus in the Round of 16. It would also leave open the possibility of clashing with Lionel Messi’s Miami in the quarterfinals and keeping alive the club’s chances of a third trip to the continental tournament final in three tries.
Five years ago in the first round, LAFC under head coach Bob Bradley turned around a 2-0 deficit against Liga MX’s Club León to advance.
“This team always has the ability to learn from past experiences against certain opponents, especially in quick turnaround,” Cherundolo said. “And we’ve been able to correct those very quickly and capitalize. So I expect more of the same.”
LAFC is 7-0-0 all-time at home against Colorado, outscoring the Rapids 21-2. As rare as visiting goals have been, one would complicate matters in Leg 2. The Rapids did not get on the board in their MLS opener at St. Louis on the weekend. Should they do so at BMO Stadium, it would take a 2-1 victory for LAFC to reach extra time or penalties.
Since a 3-2 (4-4 aggregate) scoreline tips the away-goal edge to Colorado, LAFC must win by two in regulation if, say, Djordje Mihailovic, scores two goals, as he did in the first contest.
“We won’t be thinking [about] what happened last year,” Armas said. “We’re a bold team. We’re young. We’re fearless. We love it. So we’re not going there to play it safe either. We’re gonna go there and attack and try to get that next goal.
“As far as LAFC in that building, 2025, we love to get a crack at it.”
COLORADO RAPIDS AT LAFC
What: CONCACAF Champions Cup, first round (2nd leg)
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Where: BMO Stadium
TV: FS2