Major League Soccer just revealed its roster for the coming All-Star Game showdown with Liga MX’s best, for whatever that’s worth. Here comes American soccer’s real midsummer classic: the league’s best derby in its finest incarnation.

Los Angeles FC (12-4-4) and the LA Galaxy (11-3-7) arrive for the Fourth of July fest at the Rose Bowl in sizzling form, sitting 1-2 in the Western Conference, both with 40 points but separated by a handful of tiebreakers, both riding startlingly vibrant attacks and producing some of the most exciting soccer MLS has seen.

El Trafico is the league’s fiercest rivalry — probably the city’s, too — and although they’ve met twice in Western Conference finals, LAFC was heavily favored and prevailed at home in tight, entertaining clashes both times. Never before have they both been in prime form, both been legitimate championship contenders, both been playing some of the crispest, most stylish soccer in MLS.

It offers a splendid contrast of style and system, a showcase for three (more?) of MLS’s most enticing talents, and a surfeit of storylines, foremost among them Galaxy talisman Riqui Puig‘s return to the XI after a splendid 40 minutes off the bench in last weekend’s 3-0 romp at San Jose, his first game in nearly a month, thanks to a torn groin muscle.

Or is it Denis Bouanga and Mateusz Bogusz slicing through defenses for a combined 25 goals and 14 assists as LAFC looks to extend its unbeaten streak to 10 games — 12, if you want to count U.S. Open Cup victories — and build on a 10-1-3 stretch that started with a 2-1 home win in the last meeting? Or the fascinating tactical battle between two of the league’s best midfields? Or the French legend in LAFC’s net and the LAFC hero in the Galaxy’s?

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