LA Galaxy to play 2020 Leagues Cup in July

The Leagues Cup is coming back for a second edition, and the competition will once again involve the LA Galaxy as they take on competition from Liga MX. The club and MLS revealed the initial schedule for the expanded 2020 tournament on Thursday, with the first round of games kicking off on July 21-22.

The Galaxy will host their Mexican opposition, to be named at a later date, in the Round of 16. The single-elimination tournament will feature quarterfinals on Aug. 4-5, semifinals Aug. 25-26, and the final on Sept. 16.

The Galaxy are seeded No. 4 among the eight MLS teams in this year’s tournament, so they will face one of the Liga MX teams that had the best aggregate season across last fall’s Apertura season and the current Clausura campaign.

LA were the only MLS team to advance in the inaugural Leagues Cup last year, downing Club Tijuana in penalties in the opening round before falling to eventual champion Cruz Azul in the semifinal. Can they top that this year? We’ll see!

More news for this Thursday:

• GALAXY TRYING TO SIGN MESSI? In a story that seems too good to be true, ESPN is relaying a report that Guillermo Barros Schelotto is working hard to land, yes, Lionel Messi at the Galaxy. I’ve always thought Messi would only play for Barcelona or his boyhood team in Argentina, but I guess anything is possible. Is it?
• Alessandrini reportedly headed to China: Reports are swirling around the internet that departed Galaxy winger Romain Alessandrini will be signing in China for Qingdao Huanghai. Here is an apparent photo of him in team gear, and he’s said to be replacing Yaya Toure.

• Acosta out 6-9 months: New signing Danny Acosta is set for a long stretch on the shelf, as the defender has a torn ACL and is expected to miss 6-9 months. Best of luck to him in his recovery.

Today’s question: So how about that Leagues Cu— hahahaha just kidding do you think there’s any truth to the Messi rumor? Let’s chat in the comments below!