Galaxy, Real Salt Lake face off in quarterfinals

The Galaxy head back into familiar territory tonight, with a chance to advance in the U.S. Open Cup on the line.

Last Wednesday, the Galaxy rallied with two goals in the second half to defeat Real Salt Lake in MLS play.

Tonight, the teams will meet in the quarterfinals of the Open Cup (6:30 p.m., Bleacher Report Youtube Channel). This is the second consecutive quarterfinal appearance for the Galaxy. The last time the Galaxy advanced to the semifinals was 2016.

This time in Utah, Galaxy coach Greg Vanney believes the club should be better rested. The Galaxy had a bye last weekend and the team also took some days off.

“I think we were eight (games) in 26 days, travel coast to coast, it was good for the guys to be able to catch their breath and regroup,” he said. “It’s nice to get back out and play again, it was nice to have a few training days just to reset a few things and prep for

the match and then we’re back to playing a couple of games back-to-back again.”

After tonight, the Galaxy will return home and then travel to face expansion side St. Louis City SC for an afternoon game Sunday.

First things first: the focus is on RSL.

The Galaxy didn’t have Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez for last week’s game due to suspension. He will be available tonight. Mauricio Cuevas (ankle) has joined full training.

“What we’re trying to focus on is every game is its own process,” Vanney said. “Certainly as you’re in a knockout (game) scenario, as the game progresses, you tend to make some decisions slightly different as the game plays out. At the start, you’re trying to set up the game so you’re in control of it and the vision of the game is how you want.

“Going into altitude, that we’re efficient as we can when we have the ball and when we don’t have the ball and that we have our ways that we can create some chances and some danger, deal with the things they do and do well. Understanding it’s a knockout will impact some our decisions throughout the game.”

Dealing with altitude is always challenging. The Galaxy seemed to find a second wind late in last week’s win.

“We got a little bit of rest, which helped guys recover, so hopefully we will come in a little fresher,” Vanney said. “Our guys who haven’t really encountered all the variables inside of our league, which altitude is one them, they have a better understanding and know that first 10 minutes (in altitude), you feel like you’re being choked and eventually your body kind of works through it and then you start to get fatigued again, you start to tighten up again, but they’ve gone through that now and it won’t be a shock.

“Now they have more experience with that and I would like to think they will have benefited from that first game.”