It’s been ten years since the last time the Los Angeles Galaxy were crowned MLS champions. A time that could be reset in this 2024 season with a team led by Riqui Puig that is just two games away from being able to lift the title of the United States’ top soccer competition. The task begins against the Seattle Sounders and with a victory at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, the Spaniard could be in the final.

Riqui Puig makes us a better team. He has qualities that very few possess

Greg Vanney

Glory awaits Riqui Puig

“Riqui Puig makes us a better team. He has qualities that very few, if anyone else in this league, possesses,” said LA Galaxy coach Greg Vanney last June when the Spanish footballer was playing his third consecutive game off the field due to injury. And until that point, the player had been instrumental with six goals and five assists in 16 MLS games, three of them consecutively in the three games prior to his injury. These numbers still gave a hint of what was to happen next.

Since Riqui Puig’s return against the San Jose Earthquakes, the midfielder has only missed one game through suspension. In that time, his seven goals and five assists were just the numbers of a man who was turning the competition upside downto the rhythm of Michael Jackson and raising the ‘Oles’ in the stands with those movements with the cape. These actions went viral from the player of the moment and has returned to the team with more MLS in history their enthusiasm. In addition to getting the club into the Playoffs for the title.

That was the moment when the road to glory was about to begin for Riqui Puig. And he was not going to be left out. In his first match, he scored a brace and provided an assist against the Colorado Rapids in an LA Galaxy masterclass that saw him put five past his opponent in the first leg of the last 16. It was not a flash in the pan, as almost the same thing happened in the second leg. Another brace from Riqui finished off his opponent in added time in just two minutes to make it 1-4.

The road was going to get tougher because there was no more room for error. It started with the single-elimination playoffs against Minnesota United and, although he did not score, Riqui Puig gave a recital in the 6-2 thrashing with two assists. The first and fifth goals bore the hallmark of the player who was trained at La Masia and who was looking to take his team to the top of MLS.

The last hurdle before the final

Since leaving the Catalan capital, Riqui Puig has been gaining weight in a competition that is getting better and better every year. With his 17 goals and 13 assists in 35 games in all competitions, he has become the master and lord of an LA Galaxy team that knows what it is like to have legends of the stature of David Beckham. A legend that the Spanish midfielder wants to emulate tonight when it all kicks off. The spotlight against the Seattle Sounders will be on the person who makes Los Angeles dream of an MLS again. With four goals, he is just one goal away from being the top scorer in the Playoffs, as well as one assist away from becoming the top assist provider. These are records that he will want to continue to expand tonight. Because Riqui Puig is one step away from glory.