Spanish attacker Mario Gonzalez started his first MLS game on Wednesday.

Gonzalez’s colleagues have told him that his MLS voyage won’t begin until this weekend, when the LAFC takes a five-hour flight to North Carolina for a match at Charlotte FC’s 75,000-seat artificial turf football stadium.

“We say, ‘Mario, welcome to MLS. This is it,” said defender Sergi Palencia, who traveled less than an hour and a half for his matches in France and Spain before joining LAFC in 2023.

Gonzalez is one of many LAFC newcomers playing summer soccer in the US.

“Everyone of us is professional enough to deal with it,” said German-American midfielder Timothy Tillman.

The top spot for the Western Conference playoffs remains within sight for LAFC with 10 games left in the MLS regular season (four at home, six away).

Each match has unique problems, but Charlotte seems to provide a multitude of concerns for LAFC’s high-tempo, press-heavy playing plan.

Turf naturally slows things down. With the heat and the possibility of thunderstorms, LAFC’s bid to get three away points against a squad that has lost just once in its previous 12 home matches appears more difficult.

“It means everybody involved in the game has to be smart about your decisions,” said LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo. You can’t decide half-heartedly. You’re either pushing hard or deeper.”

The teams’ second encounter must be balanced by LAFC (11-6-7, 40 points).

“The game becomes more of a handball game and less of a soccer game at times, but we don’t want to over-exaggerate,” said Cherundolo, whose club lost 5-0 to expansion Charlotte FC at BMO Stadium last year for its worst loss in its brief existence. “We can still make it a game we like and hopefully succeed.”

Charlotte (6-9-8, 28 points) hasn’t played since Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF eliminated them from the Leagues Cup playoffs two weeks ago.

As the 12th-place Easton Conference club overloads the center and advances the ball slowly, it takes 70% of its shots inside the box, second in MLS.

With 10 goals in all competitions this year, Polish forward Karol Swiderski leads “The Crown”.

LAFC must figure it out without veteran outside defender Diego Palacios, who will miss his second straight game due to personal issues after starting 21 of 22 league games.

The Ecuadorian’s absence allowed Palencia to start alongside Giorgio Chiellini in LAFC’s 4-0 win against Colorado on Wednesday.

A tight turnaround and playing on turf make it doubtful that Chiellini, 39, will play in the middle of LAFC’s defense for a fifth consecutive match alongside Aaron Long.

“This is the league difficulty,” Palencia added. However, we are ready. We know we take these journeys. We cannot use this vacation as an excuse, therefore we don’t.”