The last time the Galaxy won the U.S. Open Cup, Landon Donovan was in his first season with the club after having just returned from Bayer Leverkusen.

That was in 2005, a year when the Galaxy also won the MLS Cup.

Through the various format changes the tournament has undergone, that remains one of the Galaxy’s best performances, along with its 2001 title-winning run.

In 2016, MLS teams entered in the fourth round and the Galaxy advanced to the semifinals.

On Tuesday night, after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Open Cup returns and the Galaxy will kick off against a familiar face.

The Galaxy will host San Diego Loyal SC from the USL at 7:30 p.m. at Dignity Health Sports Park. Its coach is none other than Donovan, who enjoyed multiple championship-winning seasons in a Galaxy uniform and in front of the fans.

“For me personally, with my history, I was excited for the opportunity for our guys to go play one of the best teams in MLS, my former team,” Donovan told SDLoyal.com. “It’s a great opportunity. We’ve never had a chance to play an MLS team in a real game and now we have an opportunity. Our guys will be really excited and ready for it.”

Donovan has coached against Galaxy II in USL competition and last year he did so one night before a statue of him was unveiled at Dignity Health Sports Park.

San Diego Loyal suffered a 5-2 loss against Louisville City on Saturday but is currently in first place in the Western Conference, with 16 points through eight games.

This game comes in the middle of a stretch of three in one week for the Galaxy. The club played to a scoreless draw against the Chicago Fire on Saturday and will host Nashville SC this weekend.

Although he is unlikely to see any minutes, at least in this round, “Chicharito” Hernandez said no matter the game, the importance is to win.

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“I think the mentality over here is, if you are part of the Galaxy organization, your standards should be high, high,” he said. “We are in the best organization. We know this week is going to be three games in a week, so it’s going to be very important to the depth of the squad as well. So Greg (Vanney) can count on any one of us in every game to try to give our best.

“Like I always said, get as many points and as many wins as we can.”

The draw for the U.S. Open Cup’s round of 32 will take place on Friday, with those games to be played May 10-11. The round of 16 is scheduled for May 24-25, followed by quarterfinals (June 21-22), semifinals (July 26-27) and the final in September.

The U.S. Open Cup winner will earn $300,000 in prize money and earn a place in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League event.