The world of soccer is a world of Davids and Goliaths, where mega-clubs like Real Madrid and FC Barcelona coexist among the likes of Elche and Girona. In our American sports ecosystem, though, that kind of unbalance would never be tolerated – or so the decision-makers at Major League Soccer would have us believe.
They’d also have us believe that all clubs in MLS, even today, are on equal competitive footing, with similar resources and similar regulations with which to work. If that ever was reality, it certainly isn’t any longer. Take one glance at the payrolls of all 30 and you’ll notice that two have clearly separated themselves in terms of their ability to attract – and, more importantly, pay – top-level talent.
On the East Coast, you have Inter Miami CF, leading the league in salary spend at $35 million, per Capology, anchored of course by Lionel Messi. On the West Coast, LAFC comes in at just under $28 million, thanks largely to the midseason signing of South Korean great Son Heung-min. No other club has a payroll north of $20 million.
So has that spending discrepancy resulted in MLS’s own pair of Goliaths? Well, actually, no. At least, not based on how the regular season shook out. Both Inter Miami and LAFC finished a healthy – but far from dominant – third in their respective conferences.
And it’s for that reason that Austin FC, despite finishing a respectable sixth place in the West, has LAFC to grapple with in the first round of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs.
On paper, the Verde and Black are massive underdogs to advance out of the best-of-three series, which begins with Game 1 Wednesday night in Los Angeles. PlayoffStatus.com gives ATXFC just a 17% chance to get through to Round 2, lowest of any club that avoided the 8 vs. 9 play-in game.
On the other hand, Austin FC was the rare club to beat LAFC twice in the regular season, doing so with a pair of scrappy 1-0 victories and holding the Angelenos to a combined four shots on target.
“We’re going to have to look back at the games when we played them and see what worked and what didn’t work,” ATX star Owen Wolff said.
However, when Wolff and his teammates watch back the tape of their two victories, they won’t see the effervescent Son – who earns in salary by himself about as much as the entire ATX roster combined – as he was not present for either match. In the 10 matches Son has featured for LAFC, he’s scored nine goals.
It’s clear what Austin’s best course of action entails: Trust in the defensive organization that head coach Nico Estévez brought to the club, trust in your all-star goalkeeper Brad Stuver, and dig in defensively to repel Son, Golden Boot runner-up Denis Bouanga, and the rest of LAFC’s dynamite attack like your season depends on it. Trust, also, in your club’s proficiency on the counter-attack, where Wolff, Myrto Uzuni, and Osman Bukari are often at their most threatening. From that standpoint, the matchup plays to Austin’s strengths despite the talent gap.
Even still, beating a full-strength and rested version of LAFC two out of three times, including at least once on the road, is a tall order. But the Verde and Black should have a mental edge. Not only can they draw on the confidence of sweeping the season series, but they’re also playing with house money. Nobody expects them to progress past LAFC, and they have nothing to lose in the attempt. LAFC, meanwhile, is MLS Cup or bust. Every ounce of pressure is on them.
It’s not David vs. Goliath per se, but it won’t hurt to have a slingshot handy.
Game 1 of the best-of-three series takes place Wed., Oct. 29, at 9:30pm at BMO Stadium, followed by Game 2 at Q2 Stadium on Sun., Nov. 2 at 7:30pm. Game 3, if necessary, will occur on Sat., Nov. 8 in Los Angeles, with kickoff time TBD.
This article appears in October 24 • 2025.
