Galaxy can’t slow Paulinho in Champions Cup quarterfinal loss to Toluca

TOLUCA, Mexico — The Galaxy will need to circle the wagons next week to extend their run in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Portuguese striker Joao Paulo Fernandes Paulinho scored three goals on Thursday night and reigning Mexican champion Toluca defeated the Galaxy, 4-2, in the first leg of their quarterfinal series.

Nicolas Castro open the scoring in the 12th minute and Paulinho added goals in the 43rd, 73rd and 85th minutes for Toluca.

The 33-year-old Paulinho, who played for Sporting Clube before joining Toluca in the summer of 2024, has won three scoring titles in Mexico and recently was called up by Portugal for exhibition matches against Mexico and the United States ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup.

Gabriel Pec scored in the 66th minute and former Borussia Dortmund forward Marco Reus added one in the 77th for the Galaxy, who have not won a match in Mexico in this tournament since 2008.

“It’s been our failure to execute in the two boxes that has hurt us in some of these games,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “I don’t think the belief is not in the group. The belief is there. … It’s the extra 5 percent here and there and little things through the course of the game and details and a little more fight and nastiness through the course of the game it takes sometimes to get over the hump just to win games.

“That was going to be even more important playing in conditions like this against a team of their quality. The guys knew what the challenge was going to be in front of them. … We need to execute better on both ends and, if we do that, we’re going to turn all these things into results. The numbers are there in terms of our performances, but we’re not scoring goals when we need to and we’re conceding goals too easily.”

The teams will complete the two-leg series next Wednesday night at Dignity Health Sports Park, but the Galaxy’s first chance to get its offense in gear comes with another MLS match this weekend.

“We have a quick turnaround, and from here we go straight to Austin to play a league match,” Vanney said. “We’re going to prepare the room for that first, and then we’ll focus on the next leg after we get through Austin, but we better turn our attention back to the league. We need to try to scrounge some points out of a difficult game on the road after a tough effort and emotional game tonight.”