Colorado Rapids face do-or-die matchup in Leagues Cup semifinal

DENVER (KDVR) — The Colorado Rapids take on LAFC in the semifinals of the second annual Leagues Cup Wednesday night. The opportunity to reach the final and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup is on the line.

The Leagues Cup is a knockout-style tournament introduced to North American soccer teams last year. World-renowned Lionel Messi and his club Inter Miami won the tournament in its inaugural season but with a new year comes new competition.

Featuring teams ranging from the LigaMX in Mexico to the MLS in the USA and Canada, the tournament proves who is the best of the best on the continent. 47 teams were represented in the contest and only four remain.

One semifinal will feature a best-of-the-west battle between the Colorado Rapids and LAFC. The Rapids are sure to face a stubborn crowd as they head to the City of Angels to face LAFC on their own turf at the BMO Stadium.

The Rapids will look towards their air-tight defense to lead them to victory over an LAFC team that has a surging offense led by Denis Bouanga who has eight goal contributions in five matches and is the joint-top scorer in the tournament. The Rapids narrowly escaped their last match after a 10-round PK shootout against Club América while LAFC cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win over the Seattle Sounders.

The winner of this matchup will face the winner of the Columbus Crew and Philadelphia Union game. However, all is not lost for the losing teams of the semifinals as they will still have the opportunity to fight for their place as the third highest-rated team in the tournament and secure automatic qualification for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

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