​Nashville’s Shield standard, El Tráfico fireworks & more from Matchday 32By Charles BoehmFinally, we’ve reached the final sprint.With the 2026 US Open Cup and Canadian Championship tournaments in the books (congrats St. Louis CITY SC and Forge FC) and a range of rescheduled matches played, it’s all about the league.One more busy Wednesday night, a wall-to-wall Halloween weekend of action and then Decision Day on Nov. 7. That, plus a FIFA international window, is all that remains before the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs spark into life.Nine teams from each conference will take part. Four have clinched their spot in the East; five have done so in the West. Even now, only one team in each, CF Montréal and Sporting Kansas City, have been officially eliminated.So much can happen in the next couple of weeks, let alone in the postseason. It’s the most wonderful time of the MLS year, and you could taste it across Matchday 32.Nashville SCTo the ‘Yotes goes the ShieldCongratulations to Nashville SC, who clinched the 2026 Supporters’ Shield with a sunny 2-0 weekend-opening win at Montréal that felt inevitable, both on the day and in the calendar, given how dominant, how far ahead of the field B.J. Callaghan’s Coyotes have been for months.A CFMTL side rotated and reeling from midweek heartbreak in the Canadian Championship final were straightforward prey for Sam Surridge, Hany Mukhtar and the rest of an NSC unit who have locked down home-field advantage for the duration of the playoffs, tied the record for fastest march to the Shield and can still break 2024 Inter Miami’s MLS record for most points in a season (74) by taking five from the nine in play across their final three regular-season games.The best way I can explain them is to quote a few bars from my colleague Ben Wright, who’s set the standard with his NSC coverage both here and on SixOneFive Soccer:“Nashville have been dominant in MLS this season. They’ve racked up 21 wins so far, four more than the closest team. They’ve lost just three games, three fewer than the next team. They’ve outscored their opponents by 43 goals this year, and haven’t dropped out of first place in the table since May. With three games left to play, they’re just five points away from setting the all-time points record.”These ‘Yotes are one of the most complete teams this league have ever seen, and they aim to prove it by hoisting more hardware in a few weeks.“I think for one, two weeks we can be European, celebrate the championship,” joked Mukhtar. “But then we have to get back to how the system is here, the playoffs and all that. We need to be ready. We know that it’s a new season in the playoffs, and we will make sure that we are all ready.”WATCH: Mukhtar, Surridge lead Nashville to Supporters’ ShieldLA GalaxyEl Tráfico delivers, as usualWhat more can we say about the Los Angeles derby? Wherever the teams are in the standings, whatever’s going on in their respective worlds, LAFC vs. LA Gala