LA Galaxy to conference final, LAFC fall short
The Los Angeles Galaxy and Los Angeles Football Club were battling it out for first place in the MLS Western Conference throughout the 2024 regular season, in what has been the most competitive year for the rivalry since LAFC’s establishment a decade ago. The Galaxy spent much of the year in the driver's seat, but it was LAFC who came out on top during the dying embers of the season.
LAFC pulled off decisive wins in their final two games of the regular season, putting them level on points with their crosstown rivals. All the Galaxy needed was a draw from their final game to retain their top spot, but a last-second goal from their former player Daniel Steres sealed a dramatic win for the Houston Dynamo and handed LAFC the top seed via goal differential. This was the tightest race in the Western Conference since the 2017 campaign and a season that has helped Ry Bardacke (’25) consider “El Tráfico” to be one of the best rivalries in California sports.
“El Tráfico is the best of the California rivalries; LAFC has been the more dominant team since it was founded, but this year is definitely the most competitive yet,” Bardacke said. “I've been to several El Tráfico games and the energy is always special. There's something about rivalry games which brings out passion in all the supporters.”
Art by Kayman Mangan
The Galaxy, founded in 1994, has used its market as a Los Angeles team to attract some of the biggest names the league has ever seen, such as European stars Steven Gerrard, David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Galaxy reached the MLS final nine times within its first 20 seasons as a club and won the cup five times, more than any other team to date. Yet, they haven’t reached the final since the 2014 campaign, the year in which LAFC was brought into the fray.
LAFC was able to follow a similar business model to that of the Galaxy upon their inauguration into the MLS. The excitement surrounding a new Los Angeles team brought in a plethora of foreign talent and helped them avoid the long developing period you might expect from a new franchise. LAFC have made the playoffs every season in their ten-year history thus far, and won the MLS cup in 2022.
Despite LAFC enjoying more recent success, fixtures between the two sides always remain tight and entertaining. El Tráfico has produced historic moments for the sport, including setting the all-time MLS attendance record with 82,110 at their Fourth of July matchup in 2023. Headlined by big names and the cultural fight between both fanbases feeling they represent the “real” LA, fans such as Samo math teacher Nicole Yumori feel that fixtures between the Galaxy and LAFC have a notable spirit to them.
“My husband and I are part of the 3252, which is the Independent Supporters Union for LAFC,” Yumori said. “The atmosphere is always electric at BMO, but El Tráfico always turns it up a notch. Every time LAFC and Galaxy play each other, the atmosphere and energy resonates like a championship game with everything on the line.”
Both teams share nearly identical records against each other - the Galaxy with ten wins and nine for LAFC, with five draws shared between the two. Additionally, both teams have a nearly equal goal tally of 52-51 in favor of the Galaxy across all of their head-to-head fixtures so far. This makes their rivalry the most statistically competitive in any league, but this season is the first time that the league table has also reflected this intensely close battle.
The Galaxy hit their stride in round one of the MLS playoffs, beating the Colorado Rapids 5-0 and 4-1 respectively to complete the sweep. LAFC advanced to the next round as well - after suffering a 3-0 defeat, they pulled off a 1-0 win in the definitive game three. In the conference semifinals, LAFC fell short against the Seattle Sounders whilst the Galaxy pulled off a statement 6-2 victory over Minnesota United. Now, the Galaxy sit just two wins away from their first MLS title since LAFC’s league debut.