El Trafico return this weekend, and it's surely among the most consequential rivalry meetings yet between the LA Galaxy and LAFC.
After the clubs clash Sunday at Dignity Health Sports Park (8 pm ET | ESPN, ESPN Deportes), their Audi MLS Cup Playoff hopes could sink further or get reignited. LA, winless in eight games, have slipped to sixth in the Western Conference standings. As for LAFC, they're ninth in the West and are 3W-8L-3D stretching back to mid-July.
Who will emerge inspired from this make-or-break moment? Who will see postseason dreams fade as the 2021 regular season winds down? According to Extratime co-host Charlie Davies, the fates will align for head coach Greg Vanney's Galaxy side.
"I think the Galaxy\] turn it around. This weekend, I think they beat LAFC ... and they play home against [Portland – Portland's in form, but they're home," Davies said. "And then they play the Dynamo and they play FC Dallas at home. I think this schedule favors them in the sense of they can get going again before they play at Sporting Kansas City, at Seattle and then home to Minnesota. Those last three games, you can't go into those needing to win."
Davies even declared LA "can get back into a rhythm and in form, or they're toast." As for co-host David Gass, he's similarly optimistic about LA's chances to rebound considering the absences they've weathered during year No. 1 of Vanney's reclamation project.
"I actually think the most impressive thing they did was they did keep their head above water," Gass said. "When Chicharito got hurt for a while, then Jona \[dos Santos\] gets hurt, Jona goes to Mexican national team camps, and that's where I think it started to fall apart for them. They're losing \[Sebastian\] Lletget here and there for games, they hadn't brought into \[Dejan\] Joveljic yet. I think that's where things started to get off the rails for them, but all of it was because the reality was, they were putting a piece of paper over this giant hole that was their backline and saying, 'Don't look here, look over there.'"
Andrew Wiebe, gazing into his crystal ball, predicted of LA: "It feels to me like they're a sacrificial lamb in the first round of the playoffs on the road."
While it's hard to count out Bob Bradley's talented LAFC team, Wiebe had an even more direct prediction for the Black & Gold.
"I don't think they're gonna make the playoffs," he said, exchanging thoughts with Gass about their 2-1 loss to the Timbers on Wednesday in which chance creation couldn't lead to enough goals for a result.
"Let's not also forget Carlos Vela," Davies added. "He's been out. Even if he does come back, he's nowhere near match fit, he's nowhere near in form, so it's going have to take him time to get going, and by that time the season's gonna be over."
For more from Extratime on El Trafico and all things MLS, check out the latest episode here.
