LA Galaxy vs. Chivas USA: This Time, It's Meaningless

In their final home game of the regular season, the LA Galaxy will face off with Chivas USA in the second leg of the SuperClasíco.  The Galaxy will try to bounce back from their 2-0 loss to New York last Tuesday, and get back to their winning ways against the Goats.

Despite their loss against the Red Bulls, with the help from Seattle's loss over the weekend, the Galaxy secured the Supporters' Shield for the 2011 MLS season.  This is their second consecutive Shield, and fourth time in club history.

Back on May 21st, when the two MLS rivals played each other, Chad Barrett scored the only goal of the match, giving the Galaxy a 1-0 victory over the Goats.  At the time, it was a big game, where the result mattered.  Today, with their spot in the playoffs locked up and the Supporters' Shield won, this leg of the SuperClasíco is essentially meaningless.

Well, perhaps meaningless on paper, but Galaxy fans and players would disagree with that assessment.  First of all, whenever these two Southern California teams butt heads, bragging rights are always at stake.  The Galaxy hasn't lost to Chivas since 2007, with a record of 6-0-3 in the past nine meetings.  They will certainly be attempting to maintain that record on Sunday.

LA is also undefeated at home this season, and finishing up the perfect home record against Chivas would be an excellent lead in to the end of the season and the playoffs.  Should the Galaxy come away with either a tie or win against Chivas today, they would join Real Salt Lake and the San Jose Earthquakes as the third team in MLS to have an undefeated record at home for an entire season.

While the Galaxy have dominated the SuperClasíco in recent years, there is one player on Chivas who is surely looking to spoil their day.  Juan Pablo Angel, who was traded to Chivas in the middle of the season, has been on fire for the Goats.

Angel has scored six goals in his last four games for Chivas, adding to his tally from his time with the Galaxy for a total of 10 goals on the season.  Angel has been in MLS for five seasons, and scored in double-digits in goals for each season.  He has been playing great soccer for Chivas, and will be a threat to the Galaxy's attempt at an untarnished home record on Sunday.

Kick off is at 6 p.m. PST at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA in front of what should be a sold out crowd.