Anyone who knows LA Sports knows about rivalries. When you think about the Lakers you know their enemies are the Celtics. In baseball, the Dodgers have an intense competition with the Giants. Some may say that every team is a rival, but there are those teams that are slightly more important to beat. The LA Galaxy has quite a few rivals.
San Jose Earthquakes
Coined the California Classico, the competition between the Quakes and the Galaxy is one of the oldest in the MLS and probably the most entertaining. The rivalry has many facets: Nor Cal vs So Cal pride, original powerhouses, championships, and more player drama than your momma can handle.
In the early 2000s, San Jose and Los Angeles had a vicious back and forth contention for the MLS Cup. In 2001 San Jose beat out LA for the MLS cup due to Landon Donovan’s and Dwayne De Rosario’s goals. Then in 2004, Captain America, Landon Donovan, left the Quakes for the Galaxy which caused an uproar in San Jose. Even Chris Wondolowski, the current face of The Quakes, stated that Donovan’s departure helped form the intensity of the Classico.
As if the story couldn’t get any more interesting, in 2011 Mike Magee, a forward for the LA Galaxy, had a shutout against the Quakes when he was forced to play goalkeeper after both goalies for the Galaxy were unavailable. The history between the two teams provides amusement and heated competition.
Last season the Earthquakes finished last in the Western conference and the Galaxy finished 7th overall, but this is a new season. Currently, the Galaxy is 2nd and the Quakes are in 7th in the West. Regardless of current standings or the arrival of new teams the games are always competitive.
The Galaxy and the Quakes are set to compete on June 29th and July 12th.
Seattle Sounders FC
Although some may argue that the Sounders and Galaxy rivalry isn’t your conventional rivalry, it is a clash of successful teams. Since 2009 Seattle has stepped on the Galaxy’s territory winning supporter shields, a few U.S. Open cups, and an MLS Cup. The late Sigi Schmid was Seattle’s first coach and coached them until 2016. Schmid then coached the LA Galaxy from 2017-2018.
The competition between the Galaxy and the Sounders appears to always take form during the playoffs. Seattle struggled to beat LA in all postseason matches; it wasn’t until 2015 that Seattle was able to pull off a win against their foes. Disdain for another team always reaches the next level when they eliminate your team during the playoffs. Seattle was eliminated by the Galaxy a few times. In 2014 at the Western Conference championships the Galaxy eliminated the Sounders and then won the MLS Cup.
The postseason isn’t the only time that competition intensifies between the two teams. In 2010 the Sounder’s organization was so embarrassed about their 4-0 loss to the Galaxy that they comped one game for the next season; however, in 2018 Seattle answered back, handing Galaxy an equally embarrassing loss.
Last season Seattle finished second in the western conference, winning one game and losing one game against the Galaxy.
The Galaxy led by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Seattle led by Nicolas Lodeiro will face off on August 17th and September 1st.
Chivas USA
The rivalry between two Los Angeles teams is not a new one. In 2005 Chivas USA arrived on the scene and tried to make a name for themselves. Chivas had a tough task ahead but gained some success in 2006 when their coach Bob Bradley won the coach of the year. To further increase the heat, Chivas USA and the Galaxy shared the same stadium. The Galaxy wasn’t about to let a new team try and run them out, so out of 34 SuperClassico matches, the Galaxy won 22, tied 8, and lost only 4 games. Although Chivas USA dissolved in 2014, the LA turf battle picked up again in 2018 when LAFC arrived in downtown LA with Bob Bradley as their coach.
The Galaxy has no need to establish themselves as a team, so most of the pressure lies on LAFC to legitimize themselves as an LA team. LA Galaxy and LAFC is a relatively new rivalry, but the competition between the teams is fierce and is further fueled by the fans. LAFC fans traveled to Europe to learn football culture and came armed with supporter groups at the start of the season, which led to intense clashes between their supporter groups and those of the LA Galaxy.
There have been a few altercations between fans at events that demonstrate how serious some fans take the rivalry. Both teams represent LA, but LAFC fans feel scorned by the LA Galaxy, who have referred to them as Chivas 2.0 and have therefore taken issue with the geographic location of Galaxy’s stadium. The rowdiness of some LAFC fans has taken away from the success of their team which is led by Carlos Vela. Nonetheless, the Galaxy is not going to sit back and let another team try and depose them. They will continue to rep LA despite the presence of another LA team.
Overall, LAFC is doing well in their first two seasons in the MLS but still have yet to beat the Galaxy. LAFC is playing like they have a chip on their shoulder and it is working for them, they currently sit in first place and the Galaxy sit in second.
LA Galaxy will play LAFC July 19th and August 25th.
At the end of the day, rivalries contribute to the growth of the MLS. New teams are arriving and expanding the league which leads to more competition for the LA Galaxy.
LA Galaxy vs San Jose Quakes. Photo Credit: Aaron Sholl | Under Creative Commons License