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Struggling Galaxy kick off Champions Cup quarterfinals at Toluca FC

April 7, 2026

Road trips to Mexico for Major League Soccer teams have always been challenging.

That remains the case for the Galaxy, who will kick off their CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal series on the road against Toluca FC.

The Galaxy are off to a slow start in MLS play, something they wanted to avoid after last season’s disappointing performance.

Now they’re taking a four-game winless streak into the home of the back-to-back Liga MX champion.

“There are little moments throughout the game that are hurting us,” Galaxy midfielder Edwin Cerrillo said. “I think we as a team know where those moments are and I think we know where we have to keep our focus.

“We have a good group. Defensively when we’re all compact, we’re all together, we don’t give up too many chances to the other teams. And on the attacking side, things are going to start to clicking for us and we have to just keep pushing forward.

“I think for us, it’s frustrating when we don’t score 3-4 goals, we always want to come out there with that intent to score and score and score. But you know teams sit back, team’s defense is really compact, so it’s finding the moments to break them down. Keeping that focus, that when those turnovers do happen and teams get one or two chances throughout the game, making sure those don’t end up in the back of our net.”

In MLS play, the Galaxy sit in 12th place (1-3-2, five points). In the Champions Cup, the Galaxy survived their first-round series against Sporting San Miguelito, scoring only a road goal, then they found a lot of success against Jamaican club Mount Pleasant, winning the series 6-0 on aggregate.

They haven’t been able to carry over that momentum into league play.

“I don’t know if it’s a lack of confidence or if there is a frustration of not getting over the hump,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said of the current state of his team. “I think the group in there has a certain level of confidence because I think when we go out and play, we are able to dictate the game, we’re actually able to move the game and I think that takes a certain level of confidence.

“What there is now, it’s the understanding of what is that extra five percent, three percent that we need to do to turn a performance or a reasonable good performance into a a victory. It’s in the details. It’s in the margins for us and I think my goal and my objective is to try to get these guys to understand what we think those three, five percent things are that are in the margins that each guy, and as a collective, that we can lean on to get ourselves over just a good performance into the results category.”

This round presents a real challenge in Toluca, winners of both the Apertura and Clausura Tournaments last year in Liga MX. In the Round of 16, Toluca lost its first leg 3-2 on the road against San Diego FC. The second leg ended with a 4-0 rout for the host Mexican team.

“It’s the first leg of two, we’re going to play this like it’s four quarters,” Vanney said. “We’re going to play it with the idea of how we want to address each one of these so-called quarters or halves to get the best result we can.”

The second leg will April 15 at Dignity Health Sports Park.

The Galaxy faced Toluca in the Campeones Cup in October. The Galaxy led 2-1 in the 83rd minute, but Toluca scored in the 88th and 94th minutes to steal the win.

GALAXY at TOLUCA FC

When: 8 p.m. PT Wednesday

Where: Nemesio Díez Stadium, Toluca, Mexico

How to watch: FS1, TUDN (Spanish)

Orange County Register

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Struggling Galaxy kick off Champions Cup quarterfinals at Toluca FC

GALAXY at TOLUCA FC

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