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SANDY — You’d be hard-pressed to find a bigger rivalry than the one between Real Salt Lake and the L.A. Galaxy right now.
The two teams finished 1-1-1 in three matches against each other in 2014, and one of the teams has represented the Western Conference in the MLS Cup final in four of the past five years.
Both teams have U.S. men’s national team talent, between the Galaxy’s Landon Donovan and Omar Gonzalez and RSL’s Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando.
Another chapter in the rivalry begins when the two teams meet Saturday at 6 p.m. at Rio Tinto Stadium, the final series between the two clubs in the historic career of the legendary Donovan.
“It’s a great matchup for the league, for sure, and hopefully for the fans,” RSL defender Chris Wingert said after Friday’s training.
While RSL vs. L.A. didn’t start as a rivalry for either club, the MLS original Galaxy and 2005 expansion RSL have taken to each other pretty well since RSL won the 2009 MLS Cup final over L.A. in Seattle.
“The rivalry seems to grow each year,” RSL first-year head coach Jeff Cassar said. “Obviously the final in ’09 sparked everything, and we’ve had some fantastic games since then. It’s exciting for the fans, and exciting for the players. It seems like if you want to get to MLS Cup, it always goes through L.A., RSL or Seattle, and we got paired up with L.A.”
The Galaxy are paced by the high-flying attack of Irish international Robbie Keane, a strong Most Valuable Player candidate, as well as U.S. internationals Donovan and Zardes. L.A. led the league with 69 goals and nearly captured the Supporters' Shield before Seattle claimed it on the final day — with a home win over the Galaxy.
Keane has put together an MVP-quality season with 19 goals and 14 assists, and Donovan has added 10 goals and 19 assists to become the all-time league leader in both categories through his career. The young Zardes, meanwhile, has 16 goals and two assists in his second season as a professional.
“The first thing that pops in my head is that they are a real high-potent offense,” Wingert said. “They were the lead scoring team for a reason; their goal differential was incredible. A lot of that was due in part to those three guys, getting on the scoresheet week-in and week-out. We just have to do our best to keep them away from our goal, keep us on the ball, and hope we can put a couple away tomorrow.”
Chris Schuler appears ready to return to the RSL starting lineup, cleared to play with a facial mask to protect a recently cracked orbital. But Cassar is also prepared to play Carlos Salcedo in his place; the Mexican international has helped his team to three-straight shutouts to end the season, and no decision has been made.
That defensive backline will prove critical for RSL, as a new tiebreaker will focus on road goals during the playoffs. Keeping a clean sheet in the home leg will be vital, and for RSL, that starts with its dominant possession in midfield.
“It’s a very important game,” midfield maestro Javier Morales said of the opening leg. “Above all, they want to play across the whole field, just like we do. That will be a key to the game. If we can dominate the midfield, maybe we can find more chances on goal.”
RSL has continued its surge despite a complete makeover on its coaching bench in the offseason, which saw Cassar ascend to the head role after Jason Kreis went to New York City FC. But the organization kept the core group of players together — a group that is hungry to keep fighting through the postseason.
“I think the organization has done a pretty good job of being consistent over the Last five or six years,” Wingert said. “It’s a credit to them for keeping a core group around, and fortunate we’ve had some success. We’re not quite satisfied with a good regular season at this point. We want to try and make another run at the Cup here.”
No matter what happens, RSL knows when the final whistle blows Saturday evening, it will be only halftime in Salt Lake.
“It’s going to be a battle in both games,” Cassar said. “We aren’t going to win this series on Saturday, but it can definitely put us in a good position to get what we want.”
Contributing: Jeremiah Jensen
