LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney stated that Marco Reus is expected to be available for Saturday’s MLS Cup final match against the New York Red Bulls.
“Marco trained full [team training] today, barring him walking inside and saying anything that I’m not expecting, he should be ready to go tomorrow,” said Vanney on Friday ahead of the weekend’s home game at Dignity Health Sports Park.
On Thursday, Reus initially had doubts about his presence after the midfielder stated, “I’m not sure,” regarding the odds of his availability after being limited due to a groin issue in last week’s 1-0 Western Conference final victory over Seattle Sounders FC.
Expecting Reus to be on Saturday’s roster, the Galaxy will avoid a situation in which they would have had a second prominent player missing after the recent ACL tear for MLS Best XI winner Riqui Puig.
Widely seen as the favorites due to being the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, and also for hosting the championship match, the Galaxy will be seeking to extend their league-leading tally of MLS Cup titles to six.
Although the Red Bulls exceeded expectations as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, officially making them the lowest seed to qualify for the MLS Cup final, head coach Sandro Schwarz doesn’t view his team as underdogs.
“I have never said this, that we are playing like an underdog or to go into the first [playoff] round against Columbus and to play like an underdog,” said Schwarz on Friday.
“I have never said this and I don’t know, to be honest, I don’t know how you can play as [an] underdog when it’s kickoff because then you have these situations, then you have to play, you have to find your solution.”
The path to a possible first-ever MLS Cup title for the Red Bulls required a run through the playoffs, which isn’t typically the norm across many European competitions that tend to rely on just the regular season.
“Playoffs is great! It’s a great competition at the end of the season,” said a smiling Schwarz, who played professionally back home in Germany.
“I would also say when you have 34 games like in Europe, or also here these 34 [regular season] games consistently when you are here when you get the most points, then it also makes a good picture, but playoffs I love.”
The Galaxy are returning to the MLS Cup final for the first time since 2014, while the Red Bulls are returning from their first and only appearance in 2008.
