LA Galaxy midfielder Marco Reus said he’s “not sure” if he’ll be fit and available for Saturday’s MLS Cup final match against the New York Red Bulls.
“I’m not sure, I’m not sure, but it’s still 48 hours, so like I said at the beginning, I’m really confident that I will be there,” said the Galaxy star during a media availability on Thursday. “If not, life is like this. I cannot change it.”
Despite needing to recover from a groin issue that saw him play limited time in last week’s 1-0 Western Conference final victory over Seattle Sounders FC, Reus remains hopeful for a return this Saturday.
“I’m doing pretty well. I was training today a little bit, so tomorrow we have another day and then one more night. So I think I will be fine. It’s a little bit the question of the timing, but I’m pretty confident that we’ll be fine,” said the German playmaker.
The absence of Reus would mean a second prominent player out for the Galaxy, who will also be without MLS Best XI winner Riqui Puig. In the second half of the win over the Sounders, Puig suffered an ACL tear that will require surgery and an undetermined amount of time off the pitch.
Missing an additional leader would put the favorites — looking for their first MLS Cup trophy in 10 years — in a tough spot. On the other end of the pitch, the Red Bulls, who have never won an MLS Cup, appear eager to make their mark.
When asked about prolific Galaxy winger Gabriel Pec, Red Bulls’ John Tolkin wasn’t afraid to highlight the aggression they’ll bring to the game.
“He’s [Pec] a baller to be honest, we know how dangerous he is and we’ve seen what he’s done all year long but we’ve played really quality players all year long as well,” said Tolkin on Thursday.
“We respect him, but we also want to kick the s–t out of them [the Galaxy]. I think we’re gonna try and do that this weekend and it’s what we’ve done all year long and I think we got to just hone in on that this weekend.”
Doing so also means employing a strategy in which the Red Bulls are more than happy to give up possession away from home at Southern California’s Dignity Health Sports Park.
“Without the ball, it’s no problem for us, if we can frustrate them that way, it’s no problem because I don’t like to try and break down a tough team,” said Tolkin. “Hopefully we can do that to these guys and pick up some loose balls, some loose strings and get them on the counter and capitalize.”
The Galaxy are looking to extend their league-leading tally of MLS Cups to six, while the Red Bulls are aiming for the first-ever after narrowly missing out in the 2008 final.
ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle contributed to this story.
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