Toluca gave no room for any distraction that could encourage a rebellion from LA Galaxy, eliminating them with a resounding 0-3 score (7-2 on aggregate) 7-2) where the highlight was the return to the field of Marcel Ruiz after 34 days of inactivity.

It could be said that the scarlet team eliminated the Los Angeles squad almost effortlessly, with Portuguese player Paulinho once again being the catalyst for the Mexican attack with a brace after Jesus Gallardo opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a truly spectacular goal that sealed the fate of the match in favor of the Mexican team.

The ease with which they eliminated the Los Angeles team at Dignity Health Sports Park allowed coach Antonio Mohamed to make significant changes to his lineup, and within that strategy, he brought back Marcel Ruiz, who had been almost ruled out for the rest of the tournament due to an apparent tear of the cruciate ligament in his right leg, which raised concerns about his absence from the 2026 World Cup.

But after 34 days of seemingly miraculous rehabilitation, Ruiz returned to action in the 72nd minute, replacing Jesus “Canelo” Angulo, after suffering an injury on March 11 in the second leg against San Diego FC in the same Concacaf Champions League tournament. On that occasion, the diagnosis was dire for the Red Devils midfielder's aspirations, but after Marcel Ruiz took the risk of not undergoing surgery to correct the ligament and meniscus tear in his knee, compensating for the knee's weakness by using his own muscle mass to repair it, he was able to avoid pain and weakness in that high-stress area. With his best players, Antonio Mohamed didn't want to risk Toluca's two-goal advantage from the first leg disappearing due to a heroic effort from the LA Galaxy, but beyond this responsibility for the Red Devils, The Mexican team began to dominate the match from the tenth minute with a spectacular goal from Jesus Gallardo, a shot from outside the box that took a strange bounce past goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski and nestled into the back of the net.Then came the Paulinho show in the second half, securing the victory in the 58th and 64th minutes and propelling them into the Concacaf Champions League semifinals against another Californian team, LAFC, who cruised past Cruz Azul. The Portuguese player made it 2-0 after Brazilian Helinho sent a pass to Paulinho, who appeared with his speed and, after leaving his marker behind, fired a low, angled shot past the LA goalkeeper. The third goal was a Paulinho classic: Nico Castro passed the ball to Paulinho's pace, and as he faced the LA Galaxy goalkeeper, he chipped the ball over him to make it 3-0, bringing the aggregate score to 7-2.