Austin FC Coach: "Nobody has stopped them yet"
AUSTIN (KXAN) — For Austin FC to make it to the postseason is a pretty big achievement itself. But the club wants more.
Nico Estévez’s group starts what they hope is a long postseason run against LAFC in the first round of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs. The best-of-3 series is scheduled as follows:
Round One
Game 1: Austin FC @ LAFC | Wednesday, October 29 at 9:30 p.m. CT
Game 2: LAFC @ Austin FC | Sunday, November 2 at 7:30 p.m. CT
Game 3: Austin FC @ LAFC | Saturday, November 8 Time TBD (game if necessary)
The first team to win two games will claim the series, whether it takes two or three games.
Austin FC enters the postseason as the six seed in the Western Conference as they’ll be the underdog against third-seeded LAFC.
“Now the only thinking for us is how we beat LAFC,” said Austin FC Head Coach Nico Estévez. “This will put us in the next step to try to fight. Thinking on the later rounds doesn’t help because we are too far away.”
LAFC is without question one of the most talented teams in the league. Son Heung-Min, longtime star of Tottenham in the English Premier League, joined the club this August.
His pairing with Denis Bouanga, who has shined for LAFC since 2022, has proved to be an incredibly effective duo.
“Since they’ve been playing, I think they’ve scored or contributed with assists in every game they’ve played together,” said Estévez. “No team has stopped them yet. This says a lot about the quality of these players.”
As Austin FC heads into the busy and intense playoff slate, their head coach knows the importance of keeping his team engaged and ready.
“We change a little bit [on] how to manage the workload with some fresh air so the players don’t feel like they’ve been training for 10 days and they arrive to the game exhausted. This is why we give some days off.”
