In case you missed it yesterday, LAFC did not win the Champions League Final. They lost yesterday 1:0 and lost 3:1 on aggregate, giving Club Leon its first CONCACAF Champions League championship. LAFC did not play like their usual self and they let Leon dominate them. The 5 defender roster was questionable and goalkeeper John McCarthy allowed a goal that probably should have been saved. A lot of blame going to a lot of people and a disappointing loss after all the success they have been having.
So what does this mean? Well, it means a few things. First, it means that they will not qualify as the only CONCACAF team to participate in the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup. A tournament where you have a chance to be recognized as the best club in the world. Club Leon will be going there instead. Now it's not the biggest deal missing out on this, but they will not have the bragging rights as the best CONCACAF team and will likely miss out on many revenue opportunities like sponsorships which could have brought more money to the team, leading to signing better players. This loss also probably discouraged many players and hopefully does not affect their gameplay going forward.
Moreover, LAFC missed out on being the 2nd MLS team to win the Champions League. The only MLS team to win it was Seattle Sounders last year. All the other years the tournament took place, it has been dominated by Mexican teams giving them 14 championships. Again, not the biggest deal, but it really shows the low prestige that MLS teams have. Not only did this loss hurt LAFC, but also the MLS.
But LAFC should be back next year though, hopefully. There's a few ways to qualify for CONCACAF Champions League and LAFC should be able to.
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