PASADENA – Take any tangible mode of measurement and throw it out the window, far as you can.

So what if the Galaxy came in with a 3-9-7 record, second-worst in Major League Soccer? And that LAFC was 9-5-5, second-best? No one cared! Not one soul commemorating the Fourth of July as part of the MLS record 82,110 in attendance at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday.

The Galaxy’s five MLS championships, more than any other team? LAFC’s first, a thriller just eight months ago? Whatever.

LAFC’s billion dollar valuation? The Galaxy being operated by AEG, the world’s largest owner of sports teams and events? Irrelevant. Don’t mention it.

Not during an El Trafico, L.A.’s fiercest sports rivalry, which promised “lots of yelling,” like, “nonstop,” said Galaxy fans Sammy Martin and her dad, Fernando. “A lot of trash talking,” said Hector Padilla, an LAFC guy. In other words: “A spectacular atmosphere,” said Galaxy fan Edgar Hernandez a few hours before the Independence Day LAFC-Galaxy fireworks show.

Just that this El Trafico — an up-and-down match the Galaxy won, 2-1 — would be three times as rabid, as rowdy, as spirited a spectacle as usual, because this version of the rivalry showdown was placed perfectly. In the Rose Bowl.

The Galaxy got back to its roots, back to where it had its 1996 debut, a 2-1 victory over the New York/New Jersey MetroStars that attracted a crowd of 69,225.

This year, in the Galaxy’s first official MLS match here since 2002, they kept them separated: A section of the northern concourse was dedicated exclusively to LAFC’s fans. Those folks flexing like it says on the front of their jerseys, their team riding the wave of success after winning last season’s Supporters Shield and Philip F. Anschutz Trophy.

And far, far away, to the south of the stadium, were the Galaxy’s people, the home team’s fans carrying an excess of pent up frustration a proud history muffled by years of mediocrity that came to a head this season. Supporters groups boycotted home matches and called for the firing of president Chris Klein – their wish granted finally on May 30, since which time the Galaxy are now 2-0-4 in MLS competition, inching upward.

It wasn’t easy for those supporters to skip those matches at Dignity Health Sports Park, the 27,000-set soccer-specific venue in Carson where the Galaxy normally play. Some of them teared up earlier this season talking about the decision to deprive themselves of the thing they so love wholly because they loved it so darn much.

That passion pushed to 11 Tuesday by the immense, intense crowd that propelled the players on the pitch. The stadium was nearly full early, with the respective fan bases singing and drumming loud enough to penetrate the enclosed press box an hour before kickoff.

And when Galaxy midfielder Tyler Boyd connected on turnaround boot to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute (and to give him three goals vs. LAFC this season), the press box rocked.

It was the men and women in black’s turn when LAFC’s Illie Sanchez tied the match in the 57th minute. A recently naturalized U.S. citizen, his pinpoint header came with fireworks popping off in the vicinity early and the sky glittering above.

Boyd found Riqui Puig racing up the middle of the field for the deciding goal in the 73rd minute and goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann stifled a couple last-gasp LAFC attempts to lift the Galaxy to its second win against LAFC in three tries this season.

And you can bet the winning team’s devotees let their fellow Angelenos hear about it.

“That’s how soccer is worldwide,” said Jonathan Padilla, Hector’s younger brother, for whom it was watching Carlos Vela that made him fall in love with LAFC. “If you grow up playing, there’s something about soccer that whatever happens, it’s a bragging rights.”

So while Hernandez counts some LAFC fans among his acquaintances, “I wouldn’t call them friends.”

That’s why you saw tweets like this one ahead of kickoff: “To all our Galaxy family going today: have fun. Support like hell. Be safe. And please remember, it’s only a game. Just a game. It’s not worth going to jail or a hospital. G’z up!”

Show me if you ever spot similar plea before a Lakers-Clippers, Dodgers-Angels or USC-UCLA game.

Show me someone who would’ve thought, back in 1999, a scene like Tuesday’s was coming. There was a game that season – when the Galaxy averaged just more than 17,000 fans in the cavernous confines of the Rose Bowl – that the team drew an announced crowd of 7,581.

Fast forward a couple decades and the Rose Bowl was the epicenter of a soccer city that now supports three pro teams, with Angel City, the National Women’s Soccer League team, averaging nearly 19,000 fans per game in its second season.

A city that was treated Tuesday to a pulsating piece of athletic theater, as promised.

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