Rivality week: Top 5 must-watch rival in MLS

The rivalry week is just around the corner and this weekend gives us some of the most delicious and most violent rivalries in MLS.

I was lucky enough to take part in some special derbies during my career, including two of them in the top 5. What I learned from talking to the fans was that these games mean more. Pretense rights are at stake with their neighbors and rivals and bring out the best in the biggest stars. Legends arise from these legendary moments. Every great rivalry has these special moments when the inserts are huge and the pressure is massive.

This is the best rivalry in MLS and it is not even nearby.

Superstars in both clubs, legendary moments and brilliant targets – this derby has everything and still some. Every time La Galaxy and LAFC meet, it is a must-watch TV. You even brought this game to the Rose Bowl before a record of over 82,000 fans, and that is still not the most iconic moment in the history of this rivalry!

Hollywood could not have written a better script if you can try it when the first El Tráfico took place in 2018. Zlatan Ibrahimović was fresh from an aircraft from Manchester the night before and started on the bench. With the shiny new Socal Club in full control and 3-0 on the street, Zlatan brings the domestic audience to his feet when he is in the center line to get into the match and celebrate his debut in La Galaxy. 25 minutes later he had a clip in his hand, including one of the best goals they will ever see in MLS. The galaxy won 4-3 and the rest is history.

Every game did justice to the hype. Riqui Puig is still recovering from his ACL injury. So in this next issue of El Tráfico on Denis Bouanga – part of a Sunday evening football, which was presented by Continental Tire Doubleheader on the 14th matchday. Bouanga is the biggest superstar in this rivalry and has a seven career games against the Galaxy against the Galaxy.

Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnati have been the Eastern Conference class since recent years, which means this rivalry even more.

Every time these two clubs meet, it is a struggle for supremacy in the state of Ohio and nobody wants to give one centimeter. The collision of two big managers in Cincys Pat Noonan and Columbus' Wilfried Nancy has met this match, and there is no lack of Star -Power on both sides.

The most iconic moment must be the comeback of the crew in the final of the Eastern Conference 2023. On the street against the shield winner of followers Cincy and 2-0, the swing swung late in the second half. FCC had more petrol than Columbus simply continued. Diego Rossi achieved a late balance to send him to the extension, where Christian Ramírez scored the game winner and sent Columbus to the MLS Cup.

I will watch Evander this weekend the field for his first hell. He is a Landon Donovan MLS MVP candidate with the ability to change the game at any time. Will he be the next hero in this great Matchup of the Titans of the Eastern Conference?

This rivalry goes out deeply in tradition and history, even before Major League Soccer exists. Simply put, these clubs hate each other.

Two of the Best Western Conference Clubs in the past decade have ceded the fight for Cascadia on the line many times. None of the moments was better than during the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs. The second leg was in Seattle after Portland won 2-1 four days earlier. Raúl Ruidíaz met in the event of death to send this series into the extension, and tied a total of 3-3. Both teams achieved in additional time to send them to punishments … the drama! Ultimately, Portland won the shootout and gave Seattle an early vacation.

Without a real superstar in both clubs, I am looking for Albert Rusnák to take over the reins of this rivalry. It has the quality of dictating the Sounders, but also the ability to be in the last third of the differentiators. Can Da Da Costa continue his solid first season in MLS for Portland?

At some point this rivalry was the best in MLS. It had superstars on both sides, and my MLS season colleague Bradley Wright Phillips became the all-time leader in the Hudson River Derby goal for RBNY, while Nycfc David Villa, Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirllo.

This derby seemed to stagnate for a while until a lively playoff match started things last year. Now I can hardly wait to see these two clash again this weekend.

You cannot talk about iconic derby moments without mentioning the “red wedding”. The Red Bulls, led by my MLS Season Pass colleague BWP and Dax McCarty, stormed stadium in the Yankee stadium and scored a touchdown. The rush ended with 7-0 and creates a moment that the believers of the RBNY has never been forgotten.

Emil Forsberg now leads the Red Bulls as a Maestro in the middle and is masterful in attack with the ball at his feet. For NYCFC, everything revolves around the dynamic striker Alonso Martínez, who has been in the Golden Boot in the Golden Boot in the past year and a half.

This Florida derby is hot and cheeky – and it's not just the weather.

Although this rivalry is only a few years old, it recently became one of the sharpest in MLS. Matchup history could not be even because both teams went 5W-5L-5D against each other.

The addition of the greatest player ever, Lionel Messi, made this rivalry even better. Who can forget the Lagues Cup Knockout game in which Orlando tried to smate Messi's feathers and throw out the crap? This game plan did not work so well, and Messi scored twice and sent Orlando home.

Then last year there was the Matchup in the early season, in which Orlando came as one of the favorites of the pre -season, only to lose from the first minute to the last and 5: 0. Messi and Luis Suárez were dominant at the time and were supposed to be the focus this weekend again, in part of one of the soccer double header on Sunday evening.

Orlando City is about Luis Muriel. He had a disappointing first season in MLS, but this year together with the DPS Marco Pašalić and Martín Ojeda. Can the former Colombian international be of Orlando's hero and spoil the party for Miami?