There’s a whole lot more season to go, and little in this league is clear until at least late summer, but it would be unwise to count out another MLS Cup trek for the best of Southern California’s clubs, right?

Los Angeles FC has been to the past two title games — pulling out that PK thriller against the Philadelphia Union in 2022, outclassed by the Columbus Crew not quite three months ago — and the foundation for another run is present, even if franchise-face Carlos Vela might not be.

The tools are there. Golden Boot victor/MVP finalist Denis Bouanga is the most dangerous left winger in Major League Soccer. French legend Hugo Lloris‘ arrival, sufficient to force out two of the biggest heroes of that Cup triumph, provides greater security at the back. Eduard Atuesta, the pivot for the club’s first Supporters’ Shield winners, returns from Brazil to better what was already a marvelous midfield group. Steve Cherundolo has quickly asserted himself among the savviest (the savviest?) coaches in the league. MLS’s best and brightest front office has two Designated Player slots in its pocket.

That’s a terrific starting point, but don’t be so sure LAFC will even be the City of Angels’ best side. The LA Galaxy, who have defined disappointment since Bruce Arena‘s 2016 departure, might finally get things right. The five-time MLS Cup champs are banking on a renaissance built around Barcelona product Riqui Puig‘s vision/skill and the arrival of two new DPs, dynamic wingers Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec, designed to correct the club’s longstanding fatal flaw. Or at least one of them.

Evidence is scant — one game is hardly an adequate sample size — but last weekend’s season-opening home draw with Inter Miami provided much optimism, not just the fluid and fluent attack, but also at the back, an area of recent weakness. The Galaxy dominated Lionel Messi and Co., were unfortunate not to be running away to victory, and might have, some believe would have, claimed all three points if replacement referee Gabriele Ciampi hadn’t sent off Mark Delgado with a second yellow card after he didn’t foul Sergio Busquets.

Messi wove his magic four minutes later, finishing a ping-ponging sequence with Jordi Alba in stoppage time to make it 1-1, a goal that Busquets readily acknowledged was colored by Delgado’s dismissal. The Ghanaian Paintsil, so quick and decisive on the left, was more forthright: “If we had the [11th] man on the pitch, I think it would have stayed 1-0.”

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