When LAFC defeated the Colorado Rapids 4-0 to advance to the Leagues Cup Final, midfielder Ilie Sanchez told the press to “write that Columbus [Crew] are the favorites.” If hindsight is 20-20, most would say that the Crew are the favorites. With an attacking trio of Diego Rossi, Cucho Hernandez and Christian Ramirez it’s merely impossible to stop what’s coming at you. Just ask Sporting Kansas City, for instance, who has faced the Crew twice and have been outscored by a combined score of 8-0 in both games.

“We understand their point of view and how their mindset is probably coming in,” said forward Christian Ramirez. “Especially some of the comments that we’ve seen or the interviews that we’ve seen with the words like ‘Revenge’ used and them wanting us labeled as favorites and stuff like that.”

This comes on the back of the Crew outscoring their Los Angeles counterparts by a combined score of 7-2 within nine months, with their most recent 5-1 win being prominent to not only the league, but LAFC, who won the MLS Cup in 2022.

“We just have to, like we’ve done before, stay in our lane,” said Ramirez.

Sanchez also addressed the media Saturday afternoon, clarifying his comments.

“I heard, or seen, that they are the team to beat right now,” he said. “Obviously, they beat us the last games we played against them. I guess that’s the feeling you all [media] have and that they probably have right now.”

It’s not likely to pinpoint who is a favorite. Sure, the Crew have an edge because of recent results against LAFC and their progression through Leagues Cup, but also of the match being at Lower.com Field.

Despite drawing praise from pundits, the Black & Gold manages to keep expectations in check and respect teams who oppose them on the pitch. “I think we go into every matchup knowing and respecting the opponent, what dangers they provide,” said Ramirez. “We’re ready for what we think that they’re going to do.”

Despite the narrative folks in the LAFC camp have thrown around, the Columbus Crew remain grounded. Amongst the praise the club has gotten, head coach Wilfried Nancy knows that every game brings a different challenge, even if it’s against a team you have seen before.

“This is not a normal game,” Nancy said in his media availability Saturday.

“Yes we won twice, but for me it doesn’t mean anything because for me, the final, is something totally different.”

Three finals in nine months is something to be proud of, so the Crew know that this is going to be something special if they can clinch a bye into the Round of 16 in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup.

“We are proud of that. This is something that we try to put when I took the team – to have a vision but also to think big and to achieve small things to write a legacy. It was confusing in the beginning because it was about the mindset, it was about the way we want to play and it was about the day to day work, but the small steps that we’ve been putting all the time and we are still doing it, this is why I think that we for the moment are a winning team.”

The Crew and LAFC are set to kickoff from Lower.com Field at 7:15 p.m. EDT. The match can be seen on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.