The challenges facing the Galaxy this season will reach a new level on Tuesday night.
The Galaxy are a win away from advancing to the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals, but to get there, they will have to do so by winning the second leg of their quarterfinal series against Tigres in Mexico.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in last week’s opening leg at Dignity Health Sports Park.
“We would have liked to have had a goal, but I’ll take the shutout,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said of the first leg. “It’s a good result.”
That “good result” was followed by a poor one in MLS play on Saturday at Real Salt Lake. The Galaxy managed only one shot on goal and made two crucial errors in front of their own goal that led to a pair of RSL goals in a 2-0 loss.
“We shoot ourselves in the foot on some of those plays and we get punished,” Galaxy midfielder Diego Fagundez said after Saturday’s loss. “It’s one of those things that it’s frustrating, but now it’s a quick turnaround.
“We set ourselves up for a good result to go to the Tigres and get a result there. I think in this league, it goes with runs, and I think all we’re waiting is for that first win, and I think after that, things will come back into play.”
Including that meeting, Tigres has been held scoreless in the last three games, including two in the Liga MX Clasura. In the first meeting against the Galaxy, Tigres had 17 shots but just on four target.
Tigres has a 17-game unbeaten streak (9-0-8) against MLS teams in CONCACAF Champions Cup play.
The Galaxy are 0-5-2 in MLS play and their only win this season came at home in the second leg of a Champions Cup Round of 16 series against CS Herediano of Costa Rica.
An early goal Tuesday would amplify the pressure on Tigres. A 1-0 Galaxy lead would force Tigres to score twice to eliminate the Galaxy’s road-goal advantage.
“It’s a very good team that we’re going to have to keep neutralized for a lot of the game and figure out the right ways to try to break them down and score goals,” Vanney said Monday. “We recognized the qualities of their group, they’re well-coached and well-organized.
“I think they’ll be more aggressive, whether that’s defensively stepping more numbers to press the ball, more aggressive in their actions to try to finish (goal chances). They’re at home and teams are usually more comfortable at home than they are on the road. This is an opportunity for them to try to win this series by taking the game. I would assume they they would probably like to be home and be a touch more aggressive and proactive in their approach to the game and we have to find ways to try to nullify that and show we can hurt them if they get over-ambitious.”
The Galaxy will likely get a much-needed lift with the availability of midfielder Lucas Sanabria (collar bone) and forward Gabriel Pec (hip) will be available for Tuesday’s game. Sanabria has been sidelined since March 2. Pec suffered his injury in the first leg against Tigres and missed Saturday’s game against Real Salt Lake.
The Galaxy return to MLS play Saturday at home against the Houston Dynamo.
