CARSON — The early days of the 2026 season has the Galaxy facing an important night in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
The Galaxy opened their first-round series with a 1-1 draw in Panama against Sporting San Miguelito. The return leg and the deciding game is Wednesday at Dignity Health Sports Park.
“I thought down in Panama, they did a very good job of reducing spaces, making it difficult for us to build some speed into the game and they slowed things down a lot, which means there wasn’t a lot of places to go and there wasn’t a lot of places to go fast, which means we were on the ball a lot,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said.
With the series tied, Sporting San Miguelito could be impressed to come out looking for a goal. If the game ends scoreless, the Galaxy would advance thanks to their road goal, breaking the tie.
The winner will face Jamaican club Mt. Pleasant in the round of 16.
“If they sit in the lower block, we’ll obviously have a lot of the ball and have to figure out how to break them down and manage transitions,” Vanney said. “If they come out more aggressive and look to push the game, then we’re going to have to play faster and play through spaces that are created when they release out to compress us.
“In some ways, it will be dependent on how they try to approach the game and then we have to be good at having the answers for whichever one those is, breaking down a low block or being able to break down a team who’s releasing and pressing.
“Like I said to our guys, the game there looked a certain way. It doesn’t mean it’s going to look that way here. It’s really going to be depending on how they approach this thing and how they feel like they might be able to gain the advantage.”
The Galaxy have had two different paths to their 1-1 results to start the season. After dominating possession against Sporting San Miguelito, the Galaxy allowed a first-half goal, but Joseph Paintsil’s 68th-minute tally evened the series.
Sunday, the Galaxy scored in the second minute of their MLS season opener and didn’t do much else offensively, eventually leaving with a 1-1 draw against New York City FC.
If all of it has looked a bit disjointed, that’s because it is.
“We haven’t had two back-to-back training sessions in a row since somewhere in Coachella,” Vanney said. “You start so fast with so many games in such a short period of time, we’re actually trying to evolve a little bit inside of these games and solve some different looks or different things that teams are providing us.
“We’re doing a lot of stuff on video and a lot of stuff where we just haven’t been on the field together and integrating and reintegrating players. It’s been a good process and to Julian’s (Aude) point, the mentality has been amazing and I think that’s the biggest thing.”
Injury updates
Vanney said Isaiah Parente (ankle) and Elijah Wynder (leg) will be “part of the group” for the game. Both players missed the first leg and Sunday’s MLS opener.
Erik Thommy (knee) is out, but Vanney added that he’s “progressing” toward being available for Saturday’s MLS game against Charlotte FC.
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP
Who: Sporting San Miguelito at Galaxy
When: 8:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Dignity Health Sports Park
How to watch: FS2
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