The Philadelphia Union are LAFC's toughest possible Concacaf Champions League challenge

In a normal year in the Concacaf Champions League, the idea of reaching the final without facing a Liga MX foe might ring hollow. But this is 2023. And for LAFC, a semifinal against the Philadelphia Union represents as great a challenge as the continent can offer.

The Black & Gold may be tournament favorites following their impressive stroll to the semifinals — which included comfortable wins over LD Alajuelense of Costa Rica and Canadian MLS entrants Vancouver Whitecaps FC. 

But once again, the Union proved themselves as the most worthy of adversaries in any major tournament with their most recent big game performance on Wednesday night. The Union twice responded from a goal down to earn a fully deserved 2-2 draw at Atlas FC in the second leg of their quarterfinal series, advancing 3-2 on aggregate.

“Obviously we talked about getting another shot at LAFC, a team who looks unbeatable right now,” Union coach Jim Curtin said postgame. “But we’ll get that opportunity now. So we know it will be a difficult game. They have a very deep squad. And again, when we get together with them, it’s been a lot of special moments in our league’s history.”

The last of those came when LAFC edged the Union on penalties to lift the trophy following a thrilling 3-3 draw in the 2022 MLS Cup. But while Los Angeles hoisted the silverware, Philadelphia is the more intact side from last November, given the LAFC exits of Gareth Bale and, more importantly, Cristian Arango.

Maybe that doesn’t matter if Denis Bouanga keeps up his torrid form. But Philly’s returning front three of Daniel Gazdag, Julian Carranza and Mikael Uhre should at least give Steve Cherundolo’s group pause Black & Gold pause during a season that has offered so little reason for it so far.

It was Carranza who scored twice in Guadalajara’s Estadio Jalisco on Wednesday night. He’s one of five current Union players to have scored as a visitor at LAFC. Gazdag has done so twice.

“We’ll go as far as that front three of ours goes,” Curtin said. “We’re going to be a sound defensive team. But when those three guys get clicking, we’re a handful. So I was happy to see them create some chances and get goals.”

An away goals edge?

Then there are the competition rules, which recent history between these sides suggests could benefit the Union.

Not only have Philly and Los Angeles played to four consecutive draws in all competitions, but the last three of those have seen the Union score multiple times at what is now BMO Stadium.

In MLS, that merely results in a share of the points on the day. In the CCL semifinals, the away goals rule becomes the first tiebreaker of the series.

It might also play into Philadelphia’s hands that they will again play the first leg at home, even though LAFC hosting the second is supposedly a reward for their better results in the tournament to date.

Wednesday’s encounter at the Jalisco echoed those enthralling Southern California contests. To Curtin’s enormous credit, his side embraced the reality that their best chance at advancing would be to score at least once in Mexico. While the Union was more efficient, they nearly matched Atlas with five shots on target to the home side’s six, and could’ve even taken a 2-1 lead before halftime if not for an excruciating near miss that either came off Mikael Uhre or a retreating Atlas defender.

That ever-presence in attack south of the border is something so many MLS sides have lacked either the talent or bravery to execute.

“In some ways in this competition here on the road, away goals are the best defense,” Curtin said. “And we were able to score two, which as you know … does not happen often in Mexico. So this is a big step for our club. You know that (for) the Union, this will be our first-ever success in Mexico.”

The path to 'superclub'?

None of this is to take anything from LAFC’s extraordinary start to the new campaign. If Cherundolo’s men continue at this pace, they may solidify the greatest 13-month stretch in MLS history.

Others like the 2022 CCL champion Seattle Sounders and 2018 runner-up Toronto FC have made impressive continental runs with exceptional MLS rosters. But they’ve typically paid the price in the MLS regular season, suffering injuries in high volume and missing out on the playoffs entirely.

So far, Cherundolo’s LAFC squad -- admittedly deeper than either 2022 Seattle or 2018 Toronto -- looks near certain to finish in the top three or four places in the Western Conference race. And if they can somehow win the 2023 CCL and then make another deep playoff run, we will have to open the question of whether they’re the first true MLS superclub.

It feels unlikely we’ll be asking similar questions of Philadelphia if they go on to win continental honors. They’ve followed the path of those previous Sounders and TFC sides to a slow start in the league. Even if they can regroup when this is all over to reach the postseason, their road to another MLS Cup looks more difficult out East.

But not even UANL Tigres or Club Leon in the other half of the bracket would feel as imposing as the awaiting Union do right now. Because they’ve already challenged these ascending Black & Gold giants before and lived to tell about it.

“I think you guys have seen over the years, it’s paid a toll on a lot of MLS teams and probably a lot of Liga MX teams the further you go in the competition because it’s demanding,” Curtin said. “You’re playing a lot more games. And these games are very high-intensity. And they cost you points in the league, which is difficult. But at the end of the day, I’ll sign up to play in these types of games to learn about your group over anything.”