Colorado Rapids CONCACAF Champions Cup Preview: Second leg in LA

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Rapids return to the CONCACAF Champions Cup with the second of two legs in the first round against LAFC. Winning the first leg 2-1 in a frigid DICK’s Sporting Goods Park put the Rapids in a favorable position, but can they hold LAFC to advance and play Columbus in the next round? Let’s take a look at the matchup.

When: Tuesday, February 25 @ 8:00 p.m. MST

Where: BMO Stadium

TV/Streaming: FS2 / Vix Premium Deportes 2

Injury stricken first few weeks:

Just weeks into the season the Rapids were missing six players to injury, including potential starters Andreas Maxsø, Sam Vines, and Connor Ronan. The Rapids also missed new signing Ted Ku-DiPietro, and homegrown Darren Yapi for the first leg, while losing Jackson Travis to an upper-body injury during the week. Avoiding injury in that Reggie Cannon scare was crucial, as we could have seen recent Rapids 2 call-up Anderson Rosa be forced to make his debut at left back if Cannon couldn’t go against St. Louis.

The Rapids mostly avoided a long list of injuries in 2024, and when injuries caught up later in the season, the team’s play on the field suffered as a result. The Rapids need to get healthy and quick. In the absence of those injured, Chris Armas had to be creative. In the first two games, we have seen a Chidozie Awaziem and Ian Murphy center back partnership, and we saw Bassett play out wide in St. Louis, all while having a very young bench. Depth looked to be a problem going into the season, and injuries are not helping the ‘Pids.

Lineup Prediction:

Assuming that the injury report stays the same, I think we see a very similar team to the first leg:

Steffen / Rosenberry (c), Awaziem, Murphy, Cannon / C. Bassett, Atencio / Cabral, Mihailović, Fernandez / Navarro

Chris Armas hasn’t got a lot of room for rotation, especially on the backline. The five-back has been a topic of discussion for the Rapids coaching staff since they pulled it out against LA Galaxy in last year’s playoffs, but they just don’t have the personnel for that with Andreas Maxsø likely out. 

The midfield is very interesting, however, as Bassett played as a winger against St. Louis, and that gave room for Larraz to slot in with newcomer Atencio, but after a disappointing offensive performance from the team, I believe Bassett will slot back into one of the sixes alongside Atencio.

Cabral, Mihailović, and Navarro are a given, but the winger opposite of Cabral is a position that the Rapids have yet to have someone nail down. I believe Ted Ku-DiPietro was brought in to fill that hole, but with him out, Chris Armas has tried Fernandez and Bassett out wide, both not making their mark on the game. I think Armas goes back to Fernandez, but I can also see Calvin Harris getting his first start of the season.

How the Rapids got a result in the first leg:

Set pieces. They ended up being the cause of all three goals scored in that game. Djordje scored on a penalty and a beautiful free kick, while LAFC got one through a short corner routine by Aaron Long. A big reason this was the case was the weather and the condition of the field. The standard of play went down as the condition of the pitch went down, and left the game to be scrappy at times, especially in the middle. This helped play into dead ball situations being crucial, as it was the most controlled part of leg one.

It wasn’t just set pieces or the conditions that led to the Rapids win. The Rapids were great defensively, with Awaziem and Murphy excelling in the center back partnership, with Cannon and Rosenberry playing very well out wide as well. Bouanga was held under check for most of the game, and the Rapids were able to isolate Giroud from affecting the game.

LAFC was in their usual low-block counterattack for this game. It sprouted attacks at times, but none too dangerous for the Rapids. A strong defensive performance led the way for Mihailović to take the game over and allowed the Rapids to come away with a victory. A similar performance will have to happen in LA for the Rapids to advance to the next round of the CCC.

How will LAFC look?

It will not be the same look for LAFC during the return leg in LA. I would expect to see a higher press at times to try and bait the Rapids into making mistakes along the backline. During LAFC’s MLS season opener against Minnesota, they did use the press throughout the game, but not solely. They had moments of going back into a lower block to try and hit on the counter. For Chris Armas’s men, it is key that they are fluid in their tactics to compensate for how LAFC can change their style on a dime. 

Armas has tried to play LAFC away with a low block, and with a more attacking style that took the game more to LAFC, both unsuccessful, so finding an alternative for this second leg will be necessary for the Rapids.

LAFC has been able to rotate more than the Rapids for their 1-0 win against Minnesota, so it is unclear what their personnel will look like. Giroud struggled in Colorado and Ebobisse scored the winner against Minnesota, but I would still expect Cherundolo to go back to the Frenchman for the return leg. The investment in Giroud would make it difficult to go a different way after just one start on the season. I think we will see the same backline and midfield from their MLS opener, with their frontline remaining to be spearheaded by Bouanga. And I expect to see a little more of Bouanga throughout the game, so the Rapids backline will have to be ready.

Prediction: LAFC prove they are too much for the Rapids in LA, and continue their dominance at BMO Stadium. LAFC win 2-0 and advance 3-2 on aggregate.

Photo Credit: John Babiak

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