SEATTLE — The numbers say the Los Angeles Galaxy are a bad road team.
It’s not just that they’re relatively stronger at home. Their record says they’re actually bad on the road — one of the worst teams in Major League Soccer.
During the regular season, the Galaxy went 2-9-6 away from StubHub Center. No team in the Western Conference won fewer road games. In all of MLS, only the Chicago Fire did worse away from home, and they set the bar at absolute ground level with no wins on the road.
The Galaxy’s road futility becomes a do-or-die issue Wednesday, when they visit CenturyLink Field for a knockout match with the Seattle Sounders. The conference semifinals await the winner, and the offseason awaits the loser.
“L.A.’s always a good team, whether they’re at home or whether they’re away,” Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said. “I know the results haven’t gone for them necessarily as much when they’re away. We’ve got to play well. It’s all about us. We’re worried less about L.A., we’re worried more about us.”
CenturyLink Field was the site of one of the Galaxy’s road draws: 1-1 on October 4. That one seemed just minutes away from becoming a rare road win for L.A. until Seattle forward Chad Barrett got the equalizer in stoppage time.
Los Angeles’ road staggers are a rare blemish for a club with five MLS Cups, four Supporters’ Shields and seven Western Conference championships.
The Galaxy’s road to its 2014 MLS Cup also went through Seattle. Los Angeles edged the Sounders in the Western Conference final on away goals, despite a 2-1 loss at CenturyLink.
That marked the third time that Seattle and Los Angeles have met in the MLS postseason, and the third time that Sounders’ season ended while the Galaxy’s season continued.
“That’s the reality of it,” Seattle captain Brad Evans said Tuesday. “That’s the current label. It is what it is. Obviously, they’ve got our number in big games. That’s been the playoffs over the course of the last (six years). For us, we’ve got to try to rewrite the script.”
The Sounders may have to do that without defensive midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, who missed his second day of training Tuesday after suffering an undisclosed injury in Seattle’s season-ending 3-1 win over Real Salt Lake on Sunday. However, Schmid said Alonso hasn’t been ruled out and that designated player Nelson Valdez is available after missing back-to-back matches with a calf strain.
Seattle also should have an advantage in freshness, as they have remained home for two training days since the RSL result, while Los Angeles flew home from Kansas City on Sunday evening before heading up the coast to Seattle on Tuesday.
Those regular-season finales assigned this knockout match to Seattle. Both teams ended the season with 51 points, but the final day of the season gave the Sounders their 15th win, one better than L.A. in the first seeding tiebreaker. The Galaxy remained stuck on 14 wins with back-to-back season-ending losses.
However, Schmid thinks regular season form is as meaningless to whatever plays out Wednesday as is Los Angeles’ road record.
“You can throw all that stuff out the window when it comes to the playoffs,” he said. “I’ve seen teams be on a really good streak and get knocked out early on, and I’ve seen teams be on a poor streak and all of a sudden they put a streak together. We’re in a cup competition: It’s a one-off game, it is a do-or-die game, and anything can happen.”
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