FC Cincinnati will play its archrival Columbus Crew in the first round of the MLS playoffs beginning Oct. 27.
FC Cincinnati would have two of the home games in the best of three game series.
FC Cincinnati is the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference while Columbus is No. 7.
The renewal of the “Hell is Real” derby rivalry is almost here.
FC Cincinnati hosts the Columbus Crew in Game 1 of their best-of-three Major League Soccer playoff series 6:45 p.m. Oct. 27 at TQL Stadium. Cincy (20-9-5, 65 points) is the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and Columbus (14-8-12, 54 points) is No. 7.
“We get a chance to enter the playoffs as a two seed and being in front of our fans for the first game we play,” said FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan. “For everybody involved, it’s a long season, and there are a lot of challenges throughout it, but the guys have handled it really well all year.”
They will play a best-of-three series, starting Oct. 27 at TQL Stadium. They play Game 2 in Columbus Nov. 2, then a deciding third game Nov. 8 at TQL, if necessary. Each game will be separate and finish with a winner. If the teams are tied after 90 minutes, they will go directly to a penalty-kick shootout with no extra time.
The club is encouraging fans attending the match to wear orange to ‘Orange Out’ TQL Stadium and to illuminate TQL Stadium during a synchronized light show on matchday.
Columbus has struggled at times this year, and has dipped from last year’s club-record 66 points which was second place in the conference. But their 54 points would have finished fourth in the East last year and is tied for their fourth-most in club history.
“When you look at the teams that qualified for the playoffs, just in the East, the difference from top to bottom is not a lot other than looking at the seed,” Noonan said. “There are a lot of strong teams that can go and win an MLS Cup.”
How have both teams fared in the MLS playoffs?
Columbus has three MLS Cup championships, in 2008, and recently in 2020 and 2023.
According to MLS statistics, Columbus has played 62 playoff games all-time, third in the league to the LA Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls. They are 28-26-8 in playoff history.
In the playoffs, Columbus is 21-8-2 at home, and only 7-18-6 on the road. In their limited sample size over the previous three seasons, FC Cincinnati is 3-1-1 at home and 1-2-1 away.
Columbus has the league’s best winning percentage this season when conceding first, 5-5-4, with one fewer win than two other teams. Cincinnati has one of the best records when scoring first, 19-1-3, accounting for all but one of their wins this season.
However, two of the four exceptions when scoring first came against their in-state derby rivals, as the Crew won that stat in their two regular-season meetings. Cincinnati scored in the opening minutes in both matchups, but the Crew fought back both times. Cincinnati lost 4-2 to Columbus at home July 12 and drew 1-1 with the Crew May 17 at Lower.com Field.
On the other side of that equation, Cincinnati is only 1-8-2 when conceding first, but the Crew are 9-3-5 when scoring first, which ranks last among the teams still in the playoffs.
Cincy will have to overcome a relative lack of playoff experience compared to the Crew. Cincy winger Luca Orellano is the only player on the roster who has scored a goal for FC Cincinnati in a playoff game. Kei Kamara has five career playoff goals but has not scored for Cincy this year since coming in at midseason.
How did Cincinnati do against Columbus this year?
Cincy is 4-8-6 against the Crew all-time, including their win over the Crew in the 2017 U.S. Open Cup when Cincinnati was still in the USL.
On May 17 at Lower.com Field, the Orange and Blue scored six minutes in and settled for a 1-1 draw. On July 12, Cincinnati had one of its most disastrous results. They scored twice in the first five minutes on goals by Evander and Pavel Bucha. But they didn’t find the net the rest of the way, and the Crew came back for a 4-2 win which tied for the most goals Cincy has conceded in any game this year.