Barcelona pays a price

Not only did Barcelona lose the World Club Championship final versus Brazil's Internacional, but they also lost a key player, defender Gianluca Zambrotta, for at least a month due to a torn thigh muscle. The ramification of this event could be that Barcelona struggles to retain the La Liga crown they won last year.

How does this relate to LA? Well, the Galaxy were similarly caught between two competitions last year, the Open Cup and their run for the MLS playoffs. Honestly, I believe if the Galaxy had dropped out of the Open Cup early, they could have focused more on making the playoffs, where they could have been a legitimate threat to defend their title. Instead, they tried to salvage the season by defending the Open Cup as well, but fell just short, then fell just short again of making the playoffs.