CARSON, Calif. – The revamped LA Galaxy take on Liga MX side Club Tijuana in a preseason game on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at StubHub Center with only one direction in sight; the future.
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Specifically, they are looking at the Feb. 24 match at StubHub Center against Santos Laguna in the first leg of the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, followed by the second leg on March 1 at Estadio Corona Torreon in Mexico.
Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena is doing all he can to prepare his team for that showdown, with a 2-1 victory over Armenia’s FC Shirak and Saturday’s closed-door scrimmage with FC Toronto already under his players’ belts.
Club Tijuana is led by former Mexico national team coach Miguel Herrera and features former Galaxy midfield stalwart Juninho. The ex-Galaxy star, who joined the club in December, is five games into the Liga MX season and the club is tied for sixth with Cruz Azul, Toluca and Queretaro. The Xolos recently defeated Real Salt Lake 1-0 with a goal by former Galaxy Academy player Paul Arriola.
Arena admitted his team is behind their Mexican counterparts in sharpness with less than a month of training camp completed for Los Angeles.
“It’s another good game for us against a team that’s been in much better form, physically, tactically, and all of that,” he said. “It will be challenging. There’ll be some similarities to the team we play in the Champions League on the 24th, so it’s a good exercise for us.”
“At the same time we realize we’re a little bit behind.”
Arena said he isn’t concerned about that, however.
“First of all it’s an exhibition game,” he said. “Results don’t really matter. It’s another game to get us ready as we get closer to the Champions League and the regular season.”
“Sure they’re ahead of us, but we know that and it doesn’t bother us. We’re just going to go out there and try to get something out of the exercise.”
Tuesday’s match figures to be the first official game action for two of the newest members of the Galaxy, defenders Jelle van Damme and Ashley Cole, both of whom joined the club last week. Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong is expected to arrive in camp sometime later this week.
Arena said his approach towards Tuesday’s game won’t differ much from how he prepared his side for the team’s recent friendly with FC Shirak.
“It’s basically the same thing, except we’re another 10 days forward and we can expect a little bit more out of our players,” he said. “Progress has been good.”
“The first two weeks this year have been as good as any two weeks we’ve had.”