Varas and San Diego relishing pressure of 'another final' against Minnesota

San Diego FC boss Mikey Varas is relishing the chance to play "another final" as his side prepare to face Minnesota United in the Western Conference semi-final on Monday.

Both teams were tested heavily in their Round One playoff series. San Diego edged past wild card entrants Portland Timbers over three games.

Minnesota, meanwhile, saw their three matches against the Seattle Sounders decided on penalties, including a dramatic Game 3 shootout that finished 7-6 after a 3-3 draw.

San Diego last hosted Minnesota at Snapdragon Stadium in September, losing out 3-1 in a goal-laden second half.

Varas, though, is looking only to the future as he looks to extend San Diego's remarkable inaugural campaign that has already seen them top the Western Conference table. 

"For us, we're playing another final together. We love these moments, these are moments where you get to play with real pressure, and you know that if you win, your season continues," Varas said.

"And our objective right now, coming off the international window, is to make sure we’ve changed our chip and we're the more prepared team.

"From day one, these guys have gone for it every single game. It's about staying consistent and continuing to do the things that we've done that have put us in this position and then trying to take a few learning lessons from each game as well."

Varas also noted that the recent international break provided welcome relief after San Diego's gruelling first-round series with Portland.

"We're just looking at it as an opportunity to get some guys recovered after a very physical first round series," he added.

"But also, we really believe in our training environment, so we also look at it as time to prepare for the game."

San Diego are just the third expansion team in MLS history to reach this stage of the MLS Cup Playoffs, joining Chicago Fire (1998) and Nashville SC (2020).

Only the Fire managed to go one step further to reach a conference final in their debut season.

Minnesota head coach Eric Ramsay, however, is hoping his team can carry forward the lessons from their frenetic series against Seattle and apply them in the next round.2

"I'm so pleased that we're in this situation," Ramsay said. "I think it will mean the world moving into the next game, and it has to it has to mean something for us.

"[The series against Seattle] has to amount to a team in the next round that is so conscious of how it started the last games and so conscious of where it’s been over the course of this series.

"And to arrive at this point now with everything to play for, in really good shape, we’ve got to capitalise on that."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

San Diego FC – Anders Dreyer

Anders Dreyer has been a game-changer for San Diego this season. He is their top scorer with 22 goals – the fourth highest tally across the league's scoring charts in 2025.

In fact, Dreyer picked up at least one goal contribution in each of the three matches in San Diego's series against Portland (three goals, two assists in total).

Minnesota United – Robin Lod

Robin Lod scored his second career playoff goal in Game 2 of Minnesota's series against Seattle, becoming the fifth player in club history to record multiple playoff goals.

The only player with more post-season goals for the Loons is Kevin Molino with four (all in 2020).

MATCH PREDICTION – SAN DIEGO WIN

The Opta supercomputer pegs San Diego as heavy favourites ahead of Monday's match, with the hosts looking to continue their fairytale start to life in MLS.

The regular season results between these two sides were split evenly, with Minnesota picking up a 3-1 win at Snapdragon in September, while San Diego won 4-2 at Allianz Field in June.

The Loons' five total goals, though, were the second-most any team scored against San Diego this season (after Houston Dynamo, with six).

Minnesota were pushed to the brink in their series against Seattle and come into the conference semi-final with just one win within 90 minutes in their last eight matches across competitions.

They last reached the conference semi-finals last season, where they suffered a demoralising 6-2 loss at home to eventual champions LA Galaxy.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

San Diego FC – 50.6%

Draw – 25%

Minnesota United – 24.4%