Giorgio Chiellini did not love Riqui Puig’s El Trafico goal celebration

Props to Chiellini for translating his insult into Puig’s native language

Riqui Puig scored a Lionel Messi-like goal against LAFC on Tuesday night, and he pulled out a Messi-like celebration to mark the moment.

The LA Galaxy midfielder picked the ball up near midfield in the second half of the match, and proceeded to expertly weave his way through LAFC’s defense en route to a sensational individual goal.

Just like Messi famously did in 2017 at the Santiago Bernabéu, Puig removed his jersey and lifted it up in front of his biggest rival’s fans — a fitting move for a former teammate of Messi’s at Barcelona.

Puig’s goal would help the Galaxy to a 2-0 win over LAFC in the U.S. Open Cup round of 16, a desperately needed result for a team currently in last place in the MLS Western Conference table.

Chiellini calls Puig a clown

Puig’s celebration did not go down well with LAFC supporters or, apparently, its players.

As Puig was giving a post-game interview, LAFC defender Giorgio Chiellini emerged from his locker room to see the midfielder talking to the press. The Italian quite loudly yelled “payaso” — the Spanish word for clown.

We have to give Chiellini props for not only stoking the flames of the El Tráfico rivalry, but also translating his insult into its recipient’s native language. Very thoughtful! 

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Gareth Bale ‘barely plays,’ but Alejandro Bedoya expects tough LAFC challenge at MLS Cup

Bedoya expects a tough LAFC challenge regardless of Bale’s playing time

MLS Cup hasn’t kicked off yet, but that isn’t stopping the teams from getting stuck in.

Speaking to reporters ahead of Saturday’s championship game (4:00pm Eastern, Fox/Univision/TUDN), Philadelphia Union captain Alejandro Bedoya offered a playful dig at Gareth Bale, whose fitness levels are unclear heading into the final.

The Union and LAFC haven’t squared off since May, and since then the Supporters’ Shield winners have added Bale, Giorgio Chiellini, Cristian Tello, and Designated Player Denis Bouanga.

Asked about how LAFC have looked since those moves, Bedoya couldn’t help but point out the major talking point when it comes to Bale’s time in MLS: he just hasn’t been on the field very much.

“Well, one of them barely plays,” deadpanned Bedoya. “He’s a big name. He’s a big guy, right? I mean, that’s a headline.”

Since making a stunning move to LAFC, Bale has played just 347 minutes, with only two starts among his 12 appearances. While that does mean he’s been in the large majority of the club’s 15 matches since making his debut on July 17, it also averages out to around 28 minutes per appearance.

Down the stretch, those figures have taken a nosedive. Bale’s last appearance was a five-minute cameo against the Portland Timbers on October 2. The Welsh star was not in uniform against Nashville SC on Decision Day or for LAFC’s bonkers 3-2 win over the LA Galaxy in the Western Conference semifinals. He did dress for the rampant win over Austin FC that booked their spot at MLS Cup, but was an unused substitute on the day.

Despite all that, and despite doubts over his own availability for the final, Bedoya praised Bale once the chuckles from media died down.

“No disrespect to Bale, he’s a fantastic player,” said Bedoya. “I’ll never forget that goal he scored when he was out of bounds, like five yards out of bounds and he just sprinted past and then was able to score the goal. He’s incredible.”

Bedoya name-checked Chiellini and MLS MVP candidate Cristian “Chicho” Arango as some of LAFC’s stars, before adding that he has a good relationship with head coach Steve Cherundolo dating back to their U.S. men’s national team days.

“I just saw Steve Cherundolo just now, I played with him on the national team,” noted Bedoya. “He was crucial to me during my time with the national team, because I played in front of him for some games, and I know how he sees the game, and just learning from the guy like him. So I’m happy for him in his first season as a head coach here, he’s in an MLS Cup final.”

Union have to ‘give them hell’

Bedoya also brought up recent meetings between the teams, which have tended to be as even as they’ve been entertaining.

Each of the last three clashes have ended in a draw, and the games have felt like two MLS titans duking it out. Back in May, the Union took the lead twice at the Banc of California Stadium, only for LAFC to fight back to equalize on both occasions in a 2-2 draw.

Just before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the two MLS Cup finalists played arguably the single best game in the league over the past three seasons, an epic 3-3 battle. The Union took three leads, only for LAFC to get level each time. That game might be best remembered for a Jakob Glesnes launching a missile of a free kick to score from 35 yards.

“I think we’ve given them some tough games,” said Bedoya. “I think some of the most exciting games in MLS, when you think about that 3-3 game, and then the 2-2 game we had earlier this year. We tied them at home too, 1-1. I mean, they’re always pretty exciting.”

For Bedoya, the key to a Union win boils down to which team can assert their style of play, and how hard Philadelphia can fight.

“We play our game, they have their game, it’s pretty much kind of different styles,” said Bedoya, noting that LAFC has become less possession-heavy under Cherundolo in 2022. “As long as we play our game, and our style, and give them hell, be hard to play against, I think we can get the job done.”

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LAFC showed Austin FC and the rest of MLS how high the bar is in 3-0 playoff demolition

LAFC delivered a message to the rest of MLS in a dominant win

LAFC made sure that the MLS Cup final will be at their house, and in emphatic fashion.

The Supporters’ Shield winners dismantled Austin FC, winning 3-0 on a day where they could have probably doubled their margin of victory. From the opening whistle to full time, it was a truly dominant performance, with goals from Chicho Arango, Kwadwo Opoku, and an own goal from the unfortunate Maxi Urruti.

It spoke to the attacking menace LAFC offers that even a team so defined by a front-foot, aesthetically pleasing style as Austin opted to defend out of a low-ish 4-4-2 block rather than their normally more open approach. Josh Wolff wasn’t asking his players to hoof long balls — a spell of possession between the 7th and 8th minutes saw them connect nearly 20 passes, including one from Ruben Gabrielsen within 40 yards of the LAFC goal — but the men in green were certainly defending for long spells.

While Austin were having some success at luring the home side into unsuccessful pressing attempts, LAFC were still creating all the danger. José Cifuentes crashed a shot off the post in the 17th minute, and as Austin started to move their line up after weathering the initial storm, Brad Stuver had numerous worries on balls in behind for all three LAFC forwards. The biggest of those threats by far saw Stuver misread a diagonal towards Denis Bouanga. The Gabonese winger beat Stuver to it, but his angled shot towards an empty net was blocked behind for a corner.

Unfortunately for Austin, that corner resulted in a goal. Chiellini drew some extra attention on Carlos Vela’s delivery, allowing Arango to slip past Moussa Djitté and head home for a 29th minute opener.

Austin’s choice to stand off of LAFC’s defenders was repeatedly ending with longer-range passes that picked out runs from Bouanga and Vela; if anything, the visitors were in pure survival mode. Stuver made difficult saves on Cifuentes and Vela in the final minutes.

Halftime arrived, and Stats Perform had credited the Verde with just one shot attempt:

The second half continued in the same pattern, with Stuver making saves and Crepeau a spectator. Appropriately, LAFC padded their lead in the same manner, as their set piece dominance all year long paid off again. Urruti had just been sent on as an attacking substitute by Wolff, but his first touch was an unmitigated disaster: unsighted on Vela’s in-swinging service, the ball found his forehead, and he couldn’t react in time to do anything but nod it past Stuver.

Austin were adrift. Even when it seemed that they might be thrown a lifeline when Sebastian Ibeagha stepped on Diego Fagundez’s foot in the LAFC box, referee Armando Villarreal deemed it a clean play, and stuck to his call despite a VAR check revealed clear contact.

For the second-year club, it was just that kind of day. A minute after Crepeau made his first (and only) save of the day, an utterly bizarre bounce gave Opoku a gift at the top of the box, and the young Ghanaian gleefully fired past Stuver in the 81st minute.

Bouanga lashed home a potential fourth with virtually the last kick, only for an offside call to keep the scoreline from more closely reflecting just how big the gulf between the teams was on the day.

LAFC’s win guarantees an MLS Cup final at Banc of California Stadium on Saturday, November 5, with kickoff set for 4:00pm Eastern.

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La nueva dupla que enamora al LAFC: Gareth Bale y Carlos Vela

Gareth Bale es nuevo jugador del equipo de Los Angeles, así lo reveló el propio futbolista en un video en redes sociales

El “Expresso de Cardiff” y “El Bombardero” vaya dupla nos espera a los aficionados de la MLS con la delantera que se armó el LAFC para el resto de la temporada.

Gareth Bale es nuevo jugador del equipo de Los Angeles, así lo reveló el propio futbolista en un video en redes sociales donde porta la indumentaria del equipo de Carlos Vela y con un mensaje “Nos vemos pronto Los Angeles”.

© Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

El ex Real Madrid terminó su vínculo con el equipo merengue y aunque se especuló que podría quedarse en LaLiga con el Getafe, el delantero apostó por la MLS y sin duda es el fichaje bomba de la temporada.

Refuerzos de lujo a un equipo de mucha calidad

No solo es Gareth Bale, el LAFC también sumó al veterano Giorgio Chiellini para reforzar su defensa y ya tenían a Carlos Vela que lidera el equipo y son hoy en día el mejor de toda la MLS.

Bale y Chiellini llegan a un equipo bien armado que está jugando muy bien y en el que tendrán que adaptarse pronto y subirse al tren del buen futbol, aunque claro, siempre es más fácil encajar en un equipo que ya juega bien.

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Italy and Juventus legend Giorgio Chiellini signs with LAFC

The veteran will play outside of Italy for the first time in his club career

Los Angeles FC has announced the signing of Italy and Juventus legend Giorgio Chiellini.

The 37-year-old defender joins after spending nearly 20 years with Juventus, where he won nine Serie A titles and reached third on the club’s all-time appearance list.

Chiellini will reportedly sign an 18-month contract that will take him through the end of the 2023 season. He was signed with target allocation money and will not be a designated player for LAFC.

The defender played his final match for Italy in this month’s “Finalissima” against Argentina, as his international career concluded after 117 caps. Chiellini was a bedrock of Italy’s defense for over a decade and lifted the Euro 2020 title last summer.

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