LA Galaxy next travel to face Tigres UANL in second leg of 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup Quarterfinals at Estadio Universitario on Tuesday, April 8 at 6:00 p.m. PT
SANDY, Utah (Saturday, April 5, 2025) – Playing their third match in the span of seven days, the LA Galaxy fell 2-0 on the road to Real Salt Lake at America First Field on Saturday afternoon. Next up, the Galaxy travel to face Tigres UANL in the second leg Quarterfinal round match of the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup at Estadio Universitario on Tuesday, April 8 (6:00 p.m. PT).
LA Galaxy Against Real Salt Lake
Saturday’s MLS Regular Season match between the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake marked the 61st meeting across all competitions between the Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, with LA leading the all-time series 25-21-15. Against RSL, the Galaxy hold a 21-18-13 record in league play, a 4-1-2 record in the MLS Cup Playoffs and a 0-2-0 record in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Concacaf Champions Cup On The Horizon
The 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup first leg Quarterfinal match contested between LA and Tigres on April 1 marked the first-ever meeting between the two clubs in an official competition, with the all-time series tied 0-0-1 (0 GF, 0 GA). In the Quarterfinal second leg match, LA will travel to face Tigres UANL at Estadio Universitario on Tuesday, April 8 (6:00 p.m. PT). In 47 all-time Concacaf Champions Cup matches played, the LA Galaxy hold a record of 22-13-12. The Galaxy hold a 6-10-6 record in 22 all-time Concacaf Champions Cup matches played on the road. LA has previously qualified for the Semifinal Round of Concacaf Champions Cup play three times (1997, 2000, 2012-13).
Goal-Scoring Plays
RSL – Diego Luna (Alexandros Katranis), 21st minute: Alexandros Katranis slid a pass across the penalty area to Diego Luna, who fired his shot into the bottom corner of the goal.
RSL – Diego Luna, 26th minute: Zanka blocked a pass inside the box, but Diego Luna was first to the loose ball and finished his shot into the left corner.
Postgame Notes
- Saturday’s MLS Regular Season match between the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake marked the 61st meeting across all competitions between the Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, with LA leading the all-time series 25-21-15.
- Against RSL, the Galaxy hold a 21-18-13 record in league play, a 4-1-2 record in the MLS Cup Playoffs and a 0-2-0 record in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
- Diego Fagundez made his 399th career MLS Regular Season appearance in the match against RSL, which ranks 15th all-time in MLS history.
- Joseph Paintsil made his first start of the 2025 MLS Regular Season, logging 60 minutes in the match against RSL.
- Seventeen-year-old LA Galaxy product Harbor Miller made his fifth start across all competitions during the 2025 campaign, logging 90 minutes in the loss to RSL.
- Ruben Ramos Jr. made his first career start for the LA Galaxy in league play, recording 45 minutes of action.
- It marks the first time that two LA Galaxy Academy products have started an MLS match since Jalen Neal and Jonathan Perez did so against Seattle Sounders FC on June 15, 2024.
- Eriq Zavaleta made his 2025 debut, logging 45 minutes off the bench as a second-half substitute in the match against RSL.
Next Game
Next up, the LA Galaxy continue their 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup campaign by traveling to face Tigres UANL in the second leg of the Quarterfinal round at Estadio Universitario on Tuesday, April 8 (6:00 p.m. PT).
2025 MLS Regular Season
LA Galaxy (0-5-2; 2 pts) at Real Salt Lake (3-4-0; 9 pts)
Saturday, April 5, 2025 – America First Field (Sandy, Utah)
Goals by Half           1     2     F
LA Galaxy              0     0     0
Real Salt Lake     2     0     2
Scoring Summary:
RSL: Luna (Katranis), 21
RSL: Luna, 26
Misconduct Summary:
RSL: Vera (caution), 3
RSL: Katranis (caution), 70
LA: Lepley (caution), 72
RSL: Marczuk (caution), 74
LA: Zanka (caution), 89
Lineups:
LA: GK John McCarthy; D Harbor Miller, D Emiro Garcés, D Zanka, D Julián Aude (John Nelson, 75); M Ruben Ramos Jr. (Isaiah Parente, 46), M Edwin Cerrillo (Eriq Zavaleta, 46), M Tucker Lepley, F Diego Fagundez (C) (Elijah Wynder, 59), F Joseph Paintsil (Matheus Nascimento, 59), F Miguel Berry
Substitutes Not Used: GK Novak Mićović; D Ascel Essengue, D Miki Yamane, F Christian Ramirez
TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Tucker Lepley, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 1 (Tucker Lepley, 1); FOULS: 10 (Miguel Berry, 3); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: 0
RSL: GK Rafel Cabral; D Brayan Vera, D Justen Glad, D Bode Hidalgo, D Alexandros Katranis (Sam Junqua, 84); M Braian Ojeda, M Diego Luna, M Diogo Goncalves (Jesus Barea, 69), M Dominik Marczuk (Tyler Wolff, 78), M Emeka Eneli (C), F Ariath Piol (Zavier Gozo, 78)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Mason Stajduhar; D Philip Quinton, M Pablo Ruiz, M Nelson Palacio; F Lachlan Brook
TOTAL SHOTS: 7 (Three players tied, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Diego Luna, 2); FOULS: 18 (Alexandros Katranis, 5); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 1
Referee: Guido Gonzalez Jr.
Assistant Referees: Jeffrey Greeson, Ben Pilgrim
Fourth Official: Thomas Synder
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
Weather: Clear, 44 degrees
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY
On the team's performance:
" Yeah, I mean, first I would say, I mean, in the grand scheme of things, they probably created three chances and scored two goals. So I thought in the first half, a little bit, they were overloading our back line, and we didn't necessarily go a great job of managing that situation. I thought we were impatient with the ball at times, which also got us kind of spread out. This isn't the easiest place to play when it comes to altitude, and the field is in terrible condition. It's not a game you want to get into transitions back-and-forth, up-and-down. It's not an easy place for stuff like that, and I felt like we were rushing our possessions; and then we weren't really getting to the ball pressure-wise on the defensive side; and then they were overloading the back line; and we weren't doing a great job of managing that, which is what I think led to a couple of the chances and bad decisions on the second goal to release to try to get pressure to the ball; and then we don't get pressure to the ball, and we just get opened up. So yeah, I think that's errors in there. It's disappointing to give up two goals because I feel like once we kind of settled in and became a touch more patient on the ball and closed up some of the spaces, then I felt like, okay, everything was relatively managed. The question was, can we create chances; and the answer to that so far most of the season has been not very much. We had still a lot of attacks that looked like they can be promising and they turn into not much promising. And so then it becomes an uphill battle when you're at altitude, down two goals, and you're not, in the moment, we're not creating clear chances. We had some look, shots from distance and some things that look like we are going to get to somewhere good and then we don't. And this week as many injuries we have in four games, there's priorities, let's just be straight. There's priorities. This week, backing up the Champions League game to this game, I would have liked us to be cleaner in this game, especially on the defensive side and not giving up the goals. But there's priorities that are also focused on Tuesday right now. And then we finished this four=game stretch with a home game. There's priorities, and given where we are health-wise and everything else, we just have to try to manage through some of these moments. So there were opportunities inside of today for some guys who haven't played a ton to be able to kind of learn and show what they are going to continue to bring and grow inside of it, and so they had some opportunity. But the reality of the situation is we're just trying to one game at a time, continue to get healthy, build the fitness level of a couple guys, but not risk guys. So like John [Nelson] and Miki [Yamane] are two guys who are coming back from having injuries for two to three weeks. They can't play four games in two weeks right now. It's a huge risk for them. We tried to manage them through this one. Joe [Paintsil]... building his fitness by managing him. There's a lot of variables we're playing with right now, and trying to prioritize the things that we can prioritize while looking at two big games in front of us, as well."
On the team only having one shot on target: "I think, again, we get into some attacks where we look like we're building some speed and we hit across into somebody, instead of getting across where we need to. We get somebody in a crossing situation, and we don't get a hard run to the near post across the face of the goal; that disrupts the keeper's ability to come out and handle it. We get some knock-down second shots from 12 yards or 14 yards out, and we sky it over the bar. It's like some of these things have to fit together, creating chances is not super easy. It's something where you've got to have two or three parts fit together and you have to fit together in the final action. I felt like, again, I felt like details on that were, I keep saying the same thing, but I felt like the technique sometimes failed us, the choice sometimes failed us. And you know, and sometimes it was -- neither team was creating a ton of chances to be fair. It was not an easy field to play on and to combine actions and stuff like that in the final action. I felt like that wasn't the only thing that hurt us but I felt like that didn't help us and I felt like we're already having a hard time connecting parts of an action to make sure that it ends up in a really good chance. There was some of that inside of there, too. So you aggregate it and you end up with not a lot. Tuck [Tucker Lepley] had a couple of good looks from reasonable distance. You'd like to think we would hit that goal. We had a couple breaks on the right where it felt like maybe we could get the ball into a dangerous place, and we hit a defender that we're trying to cross to or we hit into the keeper. Just little execution things that we've got to tighten up."
On the status of LA Galaxy forward Gabriel Pec:
"You probably recall the play where he was going pretty close to top speed and their player from Tigres cuts him off, and he lands on his back; and hip and the non-yellow-card-somehow situation, he landed very awkward. Like a hip pointer or hip contusion inside of that. The goal here was to not put him out there today because we felt like a few days could really benefit him and getting him ready for Tuesday. So the hope is that he'll be ready for Tuesday. He'll be into the training environment tomorrow, so that we can see him moving around and see exactly how he's feeling and loosening up and things like that. We're optimistic, but I can't give that you answer right this minute." On staying positive with the lack of wins in league play: "No. I mean, we are all frustrated at the loss on the day and the way we gave up goals, and of course the day was going to be its challenge no matter what. I think we are all realistic about certain things. So I think the key here is that you have to understand and the guys understand that we were here to get a result and grind and dig something out. But also that we had a rotated group; that we wanted to try to get us as far into this game at 0-0 or grind it out or put us into a position to get a result and see where that left us for the last 30, 45 minutes. Everybody kind of understands. Nobody likes losing and everybody feels these things. But the reality is you feel very different. Doesn't matter what team it is, when you can get your best players on the field that have the best opportunity to create chances, create goals, the continuity of the group matters, things like that. We are all very aware that Tuesday is a huge opportunity for us as a team and a club in Champions League, and then again, home games are going to need to be important. Those are games we really need to get wins and get stuff out of. So it's a priority. Again, nobody likes to lose and everybody is disappointed and upset and frustrated, but at the same time it will be a very different look in the group and feel as we go into a very difficult place to play in Tigres on Tuesday.
On player availability for Tuesday's upcoming Concacaf Champions Cup match against Tigres UANL:
"Of the group of players you just named, Lucas [Sanabria] is probably the closest to being ready. Mauricio [Cuevas] is getting there. You know, he has not really put any like real training sessions under his belt but he's doing a lot of the controlled environment stuff that he needs to do to be making progress. So I don't think he would be ready by Tuesday. We'll see if he's ready by the weekend. You know, Marco [Reus] was out running on the field, which is a step in the right direction from where he was, you know, a week ago or a few days ago. But I don't think he's done enough in terms of preparation to necessarily be ready for Tuesday. So maybe Lucas, obviously Gabe, hopefully will be back, and then some of the guys that obviously didn't get a ton of minutes or any minutes today are guys who we have ready to go for Tuesday."
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER DIEGO FAGUNDEZ
On giving up two goals in the span of five minutes:
"I think the first half, we just made some, I wouldn't say "mistakes." I think the field didn't help us out. But once again, we go back to the same thing. We shoot ourselves in the foot on some of those plays and we get punished. It's one of those things that it's frustrating but now it's a quick turnaround. I think it's time to put this game behind and focus on Tuesday. 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."
On whether or not the team is frustrated with this loss after playing Tigres to a scoreless draw last week?
"No, I think when we talked after the game, you saw the hard work we all put in and how tired we were. That's what kind of team we wanted to be defensively. Today I don't think we were to the same expectations we did at home against Tigres, and that's why I think we got punished. But if you go back, I think like I told you at that game, I don't think there's one team that has outplayed us or anything. I think we've been in every game. One of the toughest things is that we're not getting those bounces that we need. Just it's so frustrating, and I don't even know how to describe it. At some point things need to turn around, and I don't know if it's at Tigres when we go on Tuesday or something needs to change in this locker room. We are all trying to figure it out. We need to figure it out soon because it's one of those things that we need points, we need goals, we need people to be confident. Games come fast."
On captaining the LA Galaxy and approaching 400 career league games played in Major League Soccer:
"Look, being a captain for this team, it's an honor, being in this league for so long. For a team to have the confidence in you to lead a team is amazing. At the end of the day, of course I wanted to win, and I was trying everything I could to get that for the team. But sometimes things don't happen, and the No. 1 thing is just keep working hard, give everything you have for your team. And like I said, we need to guide each other now for Tuesday. That's going to be more important, and we have to take it one game at a time. Three hundred and ninety nine is kind of crazy to think, but there's still a lot of legs in me, and a lot of games left. And what matters right now, is trying to get wins and stuff and points. Tuesday is a big opportunity for us to really step up and say, you know what, let's get our first win in Monterrey against Tigres, and then come home and let's do it, and hopefully my 400th could be our first win. That would be nice. That would be a really special day."
On a message to the fans:
"One thing we can give them is we've been putting all of 110 percent out there on the field. It's not the way we wanted to start but if you have seen this league for many years, I think you've seen teams that are in Concacaf, they don't always start well. At the end of the day, it's making sure that you make the playoffs. And for us, like I said, it's one game at a time, and if we can turn everything around, we can get there. We can't be looking at the big picture and saying we're going to go all the way to the final. We have to go a game at a time and making sure that we get our job done. Like I said, Tuesday is a huge game, and then Saturday is going to be important. We are going to be at home with our fans and we need to show them what kind of team we are. We are the 2024 MLS Cup champions and we need to show that to them. I know they are going to be there supporting us no matter what."
