The 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs Are Here

Yesterday, Sunday, marked the last day of regular season play for the 2020 MLS season. What is known as Decision Day in MLS parlance left us with the final rendering of what will be this year’s playoff picture. In it, El Tri Online fans will get to see five of our Mextranjeros competing for the coveted 2020 Audi MLS Cup. Those five being: Carlos Vela (LAFC), Carlos Fierro (San Jose Earthquakes), Oswaldo Alanis (San Jose Earthquakes), Alan Pulido (Sporting KC), and Rodolfo Pizarro (Inter Miami). Of these five, however, who has the best shot at winning it all?

We’ll start with the team and Mextranjero that wins this year’s “Most Likely to Succeed” award: Sporting KC and Alan Pulido. Pulido was one of the star signings for MLS this year, a year that three big-name Mextranjeros join the league: Pulido, Chicharito, and Rodolfo Pizarro. More on the latter two later. Focusing on Pulido however, he has perhaps, quietly, been the most impactful of the three. While he was out several games due to injury, he still managed to be tied for the team’s top goal-scorer with six goals this season. All this with him only having played 12 games, as opposed to the twenty-one that his co-leading scorer had. Besides Pulido being an effective goal-scorer for Sporting, he also leads the team in assists, even with the low amount of games he’s played. Pulido also benefited from having a good supporting cast, so it is of no surprise that they ended the regular season in 1st place of the Western Conference with 39 points. There is one caveat, and it might not come as a surprise: Pulido currently finds himself injured once again. He is listed as week-to-week with a knee sprain, which forced him to miss yesterday’s match against Real Salt Lake (Sporting won that match 2-0 either way). With Sporting’s first playoff match not being until late in the month, this should hopefully give him enough time to get back to full health. With a healthy Pulido however, Sporting KC is going to be the team to follow in the Western Conference.

Sporting’s first opponent in the playoffs is a team that also contains a pair of Mextranjeros: the San Jose Earthquakes. This is where Carlos Fierro and Oswaldo Alanis exercise their craft. San Jose and company have a more uphill battle than perhaps the other Mextranjeros. They went from being one of the worst teams in MLS, to barely making it into the playoffs with their 8th place finish. Fierro and Alanis have also been inconsistent this year along with the rest of the team, both having missed a decent amount of games as well. Of the two, perhaps Alanis is the more consistent one, having started every game he has been able to play. To make matters worse, as was previously mentioned, first up for San Jose is going to be Pulido and 1st place Sporting KC.

Heading south to Los Angeles we have another team with a famous Mextranjero that is headed to the MLS Playoffs. Carlos Vela is, arguably, the most notable of the Mextranjeros playing in the MLS this season; arguably of course because there are those that may claim cross-town player, Chicharito, is the “better” overall of the two. For now, however, Chicharito is coming off a career-worst season, missing the playoffs and Vela is the one with the spotlight in town. Having said all that, it’s Vela and his LAFC squad that, along with Sporting KC, are the most prepared to take on the challenge of the MLS Playoffs. While Bob Bradley’s team did go through a rough patch of inconsistency towards the middle of the season, during a time, coincidentally enough, that saw Vela miss games due to injury, they are still regarded as one of the favorites to win it in the Western Conference. Their first hurdle is going to come against a team that has been a real thorn in their side as of recent: the Seattle Sounders. LAFC’s inconsistent play dropped their stock to 7th place in the conference, setting them up for the matchup against the #2 seed, Seattle Sounders. This will be revenge for LAFC, and if they hope to have any chance of advancing to the end, they’ll first have to send the Sounders home. With Vela back, their chances seem promising, although the Sounders are just as much an offensive leaning team as LAFC. In the end, it will come down to how well LAFC can defend against the reigning MLS champs.

The last of our Mextranjeros in this year’s playoffs is the one that is starting from furthest behind. That task would fall to Rodolfo Pizarro and his Inter Miami squad. In Inter’s first year in the league, they were able to qualify for the Play-In round (for you Liga MX fans, think of it as a “repechage”). Coincidentally, they’ll be up against another team also in their first year in the league, Nashville SC. Inter. Not surprisingly, struggled this year, but in the end, were able to do just enough to get themselves in the playoffs. Rodolfo Pizarro has been a key to Inter’s success. He currently is second in the team for both goals and assists, but aside from those measurable statistics, he really has been the motor that helps keep Inter going. The late-season addition of Gonzalo Higuain and Blaise Matuidi have also helped get this team going. Aside from starting off from the “repechage” zone, Pizarro and his teammates will have a rough time in case of advancing forward, as their opponent would be the Philadelphia Union, this year’s Supporters Shield winner and clear favorite to win the cup.

It should be an exciting playoff for this season especially with the record number of Mextranjeros participating in them. They have the opportunity of going all the way, in particular with Vela and Pulido if they can clear injury concerns. Be sure to catch the first of the Mextranjeros up as Inter Miami face off against Nashville on Friday, November 20th, and be sure to follow El Tri Online for more breaking news on our Mextranjeros.