LA Galaxy forward Robbie Keane says Wednesday's playoff game against the Seattle Sounders will be "like a final" as one team's season will come to an end after a single postseason contest.
The fourth-seeded Sounders finished the season even with the No. 5 Galaxy on 51 points, but will host the game because they won a single game more than their southern rivals.
With a loss at Sporting Kansas City on Sunday, the Galaxy missed a chance to move up to the No. 2 spot in the West -- and a first-round bye -- but Keane said it's now time to look forward.
"No matter what's happened in the season, no matter what's happened yesterday or the last few weeks, it's gone," Keane said. "You get into the playoff situation now, it's like a final. It's a one-off game, so whether people have doubts about themselves or whether you did well or whether you didn't do well in the season, it's irrelevant now, because it's about what you do now."
The Galaxy have only won once in their past nine games over the past two months, but Keane remained confident his team could turn things around with everything on the line.
"It's not the end of it, there's no question about that. Are we capable of going to Seattle and winning? 100 percent," he said. "Seattle probably are slight favorites -- usually people are favorites when they're playing at home in front of their home fans -- so they've got a lot to lose as well. In front of their home fans, at their own stadium, people are expecting them to probably get through but we're certainly going to be there to upset the apple cart."
LA is unbeaten in three games against the Sounders this season, with two home wins and the only game in Seattle ending in a 1-1 draw on Oct. 4.
The teams are familiar foes, having met in the playoffs three times in the previous five seasons, with the Galaxy winning all three two-legged ties and going on to win MLS Cup in 2012 and 2014.
"The good thing is we know we can we can go there and win the game because we've done it in the past," Keane said. "We've played so much there that we kind of know the field probably more than anyone else in the league, the number of times we've played there. No excuses now. We just have to go there and give it our best and hope we come out with a win.
"These are exciting. These are the games I want to play in, all the players want to play in. This is why we play the game. You don't play the games just to take part. You play the games because you want to win. You play the games because these are the games that can separate the men from the boys. And we've got players in that dressing room who's up for the challenge and ready to go. I'm certainly ready."
Sounders forward Chad Barrett said the teams' recent playoff matchups only add to the game's intensity.
"It's the games that we've had," Barrett said. "The battles that we've fought, the intensity we play the games with. They have their three (Designated Players), and we have our three DPs. They have great depth, and we have great depth. It's Sigi [Schmid] vs. Bruce [Arena]. Every player on the field has an intense matchup."