Fireworks are already popping in the City of Angels, but the real show is about to explode at BMO Stadium when Los Angeles FC hosts Austin in the first round of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs. Rarely does a postseason opener sizzle with as much subtext, tactical intrigue, and outright tension as this one. The table says LAFC is the heavyweight—third in the West, flexing 60 points after a high-wire regular season—but their reward is a street fight with an Austin side that’s haunted them not once, but twice in the last month.
These teams have collided twice in October and LAFC has yet to find the net against the Verde. The most recent sting: an 83rd-minute dagger from Owen Wolff that sent LA back to the drawing board. But here’s the twist—LAFC isn’t spiraling, they’re simmering. There’s an air of unfinished business in Steve Cherundolo’s locker room, a sense that their high-profile attack is overdue to hit top gear. Flick back through their results: three wins and two draws in their last five, with the only loss coming at the hands of—who else—Austin. Look closer, and the goals are flowing: 10 in their last five MLS outings, with Son Heung-Min and Denis Bouanga at the heart of almost everything.
Austin, meanwhile, enters as the ultimate wildcard. Sixth in the West, 47 points, and a resume stained by four losses in their last five. Yet the numbers barely scratch the surface. Austin’s blueprint is built for October: cagey, patient, and ruthlessly opportunistic. Josh Wolff’s side rides a 1-0 win streak over LAFC this season, relying on compact 4-4-2 blocks that compress the central channels, forcing LA’s creative engines wide and daring fullbacks to break their shape. The matchup is rhythm vs. disruption, flash vs. grind.
Tactically, LAFC are at their most dangerous in transition, particularly when Son and Bouanga combine. Son’s ability to operate between the lines, ghosting into half-spaces and exploiting the smallest defensive lapse, puts immense pressure on Austin’s double pivot of Daniel Pereira and Besard Sabović. If Austin’s midfield cedes even a yard, Son’s one-touch combinations with Javairô Dilrosun and Jeremy Ebobisse will unspool Austin’s backline. But if Austin pins Son deeper, doubling with Oleksandr Svatok and Jon Gallagher, they can force LA’s attack into a frustrating loop of harmless crosses and hopeful shots.
On the flip side, Austin’s shape without the ball is their best weapon. They averaged just 44% possession in their last big outing, but that’s by design: when LA overloads the left, Austin can spring the trap through pacey outlets like Jáder Obrian or the surging runs of Gallagher. The key player to watch is Owen Wolff, who has developed a knack for late, penalty-box arrivals—he’s the tip of the spear in Austin’s smash-and-grab blueprint.
The chess match boils down to two questions. First: Can LAFC’s fullbacks, most likely Sergi Palencia and Artem Smolyakov, offer width high enough to pin Austin’s wingers, without exposing their own flanks? Austin loves to counter in the vacated channels when LAFC’s outside backs bomb forward, and the difference could hinge on transitional discipline. Second: Who wins the central duel—LAFC’s double eights, Tillman and Amaya, or Austin’s boxy midfield four? If LAFC crack the shell, the floodgates could open. If Austin keep it airtight, another nervy nail-biter is in the cards.
In terms of individual brilliance, LAFC simply has more match-winners. Bouanga can drop a highlight-reel goal out of nowhere. Son is the sharpest weapon in the league when given time and space. But the emotional edge? That’s all Austin. This is a team with nothing to lose, a side that already crumpled the LAFC script twice this year and won’t blink in a knife fight.
History whispers that playoff experience matters, and LAFC has it: two MLS Cup finals in the last three years, a home record (16-2-5 in all comps) that borders on fortress-like. But if pressure does weird things to favorites, Austin is exactly the sort of underdog that thrives: organized, unhurried, and perfectly content to play spoiler for 90 minutes before snatching headlines at the death.
Don’t buy the narrative that this is a mismatch. If anything, these are two teams on a collision course, with as much on the line emotionally as in the standings. LAFC needs to exorcise their Austin demons just as badly as Austin wants to prove they belong among the MLS elite. Ninety minutes at BMO Stadium will decide whose identity holds up under the postseason glare. For neutrals, settle in. For the teams? This is the crucible where legacies are forged—and ghosts are buried for good.