LA Galaxy and LAFC: A decade-long rivalry in Major League Soccer

"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." That is how 'A Tale of Two Cities' by Charles Dickens begins. That quote is fairly reminiscent of one city's rivalry between two soccer clubs in Major League Soccer. We're talking about the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Los Angeles Football Club, of course.

Saturday will mark the 24th matchup between the LA Galaxy and LAFC. The two teams are tied at 9-9-5 as both have won nine times and tied five more. There is a lot at stake for both brands this weekend.

The first meeting between the two LA-based squads took place on March 31, 2018. At the time, the new addition to MLS (LAFC) held a 3-0 lead against the Galaxy entering the second half of the game. Then, Zlatan Ibrahimović made his debut as a substitute as history was made.

Perhaps, this was the catalyst that the LA Galaxy needed as they went on to score four unanswered goals and capture the first ever win in this series. The teams saw each other twice more as both of those contests ended in a tie.

Ibrahimović made his presence felt again in the first matchup of the 2019 season between the LA Galaxy and LAFC. His hat trick gave the Galaxy a 3-2 victory. Another tie happened a month later. It wasn't until the MLS Cup Playoffs that year when LAFC finally secured their first win against the LA Galaxy, 5-3.

The revival took a pivot since 2022 when the two clubs each won two games. LAFC's two wins at the end of that season would begin a stretch of their new-found dominance, winning six of their last eight in the series. The LA Galaxy has been defeated, 2-1, twice this season.