LAFC’s Denis Bouanga seeks triumphant return to Columbus for MLS All-Star Game

COLUMBUS – When Denis Bouanga makes travel recommendations for friends visiting the United States, this locale might not make his list.

It’s not that Columbus isn’t great: Players have been filled with praise for the Ohio city with a rich soccer history. It’s not that he couldn’t fit in here: Wilfried Nancy is from a town in France about two hours from where Bouanga was born and is coaching the All-Stars after winning MLS Cup with the Crew.

He just hasn’t had a very good time here in the past.

Sure, he scored a goal last December in MLS Cup 2023 at Lower.com Field, but it came in a losing effort as he tried to spark a rally that never came. It also looked like Columbus could be the final city in which he’d play an MLS match, with the 29-year-old saying post-match he’d be open to a return to Ligue 1 or another European league.

Instead, Bouanga is back in Columbus, proudly representing MLS in the All-Star Game presented by Target, after signing a deal in March that will keep him at the club through 2027 and potentially longer.

LAFC’s chance for revenge on Columbus earlier this month went wanting as well, with the Crew going to BMO Stadium and emerging with a 5-1 victory.

“Columbus has posed many problems for us this year,” Bouanga said Monday. “For us, it was the first time we conceded five goals. We had few chances to score. We had a few chances here and there, but the majority of the time it was Columbus that had them.

“It’s a team that plays very, very well, with players who I knew very well and with whom I have played. It was simply very difficult to play against them.”

Playing with a legend

This week, Bouanga’s putting all those past moments aside and reconnecting with other league icons on Nancy’s MLS All-Star squad.

Bouanga and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris are representing the club this week in Columbus, but LAFC will hope to add All-Stars in future editions. There was a strong case for Mateusz Bogusz in his 13-goal, six-assist season. And soon, with the arrival of Olivier Giroud, Bouanga will have another running buddy in attack.

It may take some time to work out exactly how all the attacking pieces fit together, but the Gabon international is confident they’ll gel.

“It will be a very good thing for LAFC. He is a very big star who will be joining us,” Bouanga said of Giroud. “That will really be a plus, whether that’s for me or whether that’s for our other teammates because he’s a true No. 9 who knows how to use his space, who knows how to keep the ball, who also frees up space for us, the former centers. So, when you bring a great name like that to a good team, that can only go well.”

At least, LAFC hope it can only go well. It should. Giroud is coming off a season in which he scored 15 goals for AC Milan in Serie A, his highest mark for the Italian side after a long career in the Premier League with Arsenal and Chelsea.

Bouanga has made it work without him, though. Last season, he won the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi and this year sits just one goal off the league lead with 16 tallies through 24 matches.

Yet, Bouanga insists he’s happy to share the limelight, pushing for team trophies rather than individual honors.

“I try to be as decisive as possible for the team, with the players who are around me, to bring something each day, each match, to look after and see if I was good or not good,” he said. “But that all speaks to the collective, I’m not being decisive and making my team win so I can be named MVP or Golden Boot.”

That should show as well on Wednesday, when Bouanga will look to help the MLS All-Stars past their Liga MX rivals (8 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).

Perhaps he’ll even leave with a few fond memories of Columbus.