Ten months after setting out from preseason in Clearwater, Florida, FC Cincinnati enters the playoffs looking a little different than they set out but clear eyed in their purpose all the same. If you had told them who they’d be facing first in the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs, they may have told you it was fitting, but they’d likely also tell you that it doesn’t matter who they get first; they have to win all the same.
After a chaotic final day around Major League Soccer, a Decision Day where in the Eastern Conference the playoff teams were set but the matchups for Round One of the MLS Cup Playoffs were in flux, FC Cincinnati secured their #2 seed in the East. Later that night, thanks to a Vancouver Whitecaps defeat, FCC finalized their #2 seed in the MLS Cup Playoffs as well. Meaning, should The Orange and Blue make the MLS Cup Finals, it would be at TQL Stadium, as no Western Conference side would be ahead of them.
Further down the table, chaos ensued.
Once FCC had secured their three points, that limited the number of opponents they could expect to see in Round One. Results across three separate games would determine where they play their Best-of-3 series, with any of those games' outcomes changing the makeup of the playoffs.
But of course, in what can only be described as MLS destiny, fate, or the guiding hands of the soccer gods, the results fell into place. FC Cincinnati, the #2 seed, was set up to face the Columbus Crew, their bitter rivals, in the open round after the Crew’s dominant 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls on the final day of the regular season to catapult themselves into the #7 seed after starting the day in the #9 spot.
Like a magnet or the gravitational pull of two massive objects, the Hell is Real Derby has come together in a way that feels inevitable. It loomed large for weeks; the possibility of it was distinct as late as the international break that preceded this match and as early as the first week of September when FCC clinched its playoff berth. A Hell is Real playoff matchup lingered as possible for weeks, but only on the final day of the regular season did it become not only possible, but likely.
“It's great. What a great opportunity we get to play a rival in the playoffs and meaningful games in a best-of-three,” FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said Saturday evening after the win over Montréal and the matchup was formalized. “If you don't get excited about that and those opportunities, on top of being a playoff team and playing in front of our fans in the first game, there's something missing there. We'll take a night to enjoy this, and then we turn our focus to Columbus. Some good talking points around this one.”
The matchup between FC Cincinnati and Columbus Crew is, by far, the marquee pairing of the first round. The rivalry between these Ohio clubs is fierce under the most normal of circumstances, but the added drama of postseason soccer makes this match truly tantalizing.
These kinds of matches only further entrench the rivalry, not only into the lore of the two teams, but also into the history of the league. Geography makes this rivalry obvious, but the repeated matchups in important games make it a truly historic derby the likes of which this league really hasn’t seen.
That meaning, that shared history, the added emotional stakes of not only wanting to win in the playoffs but also winning so as to earn bragging rights over your fellow Ohioans, adds a deeper level of analysis you have to apply to this game.
Emotional memory of this series also can’t be discounted, at least for how any fan would feel about this matchup. Both matches, FC Cincinnati’s road draw earlier this season, and home loss where the Crew came back down 2-0 to defeat FCC 4-2, loomed large over this game. Then there’s also the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Finals, the last time these two sides played each other in the playoffs.
Sports cliché tells us when these matches come along, you ‘throw out the record books.’ The record books may be easy to throw away, but memories are less so. Making it harder to really pin down this series in an objective way.
For example, FC Cincinnati finished the season second in the Eastern Conference, whereas Columbus Crew finished seventh for a reason. The Crew won just two of their final 10 games, FC Cincinnati won six of their final 10 with two draws sprinkled into their as well. Columbus has been without two key attackers in Diego Rossi and Wessam Abou Ali for several weeks, and it is unclear when they will return from their respective injuries. Meanwhile, FC Cincinnati will be getting back Kévin Denkey from yellow card accumulation suspension on Decision Day, and Obinna Nwobodo made his return from injury on the final day.
Does that change the way you think of the game? Or where either club stands in it? No? Thought so. Nor should it. That’s not how rivalries work.
“It's always challenging. He's a good coach, and they're a good team,” Noonan added on what a match against Columbus and Head Coach Wilfried Nancy presents. “The matchups are typically a challenge because of the threats that they pose. I also think we have challenges to present them, but you also have to sometimes put that stuff aside and see how guys compete and how you manage the different emotions that come out in games like this when the stakes are higher. It's fun to have this challenge in front of us. I'm sure they're feeling the same way. Hopefully we can perform, entertain and advance.”
The setup to this match comes then in the margins, much like many of the MLS Cup Playoff matches in the Eastern Conference this year.
Health was a point of emphasis for Pat Noonan in the immediate aftermath of the Decision Day victory as the Head Coach began to look forward to the playoffs. While the depth of this team has been one of its strengths in the 2025 regular season, having a full allotment of players available would put FCC on its front foot. And while not everyone will be back in time for the first game of the series, getting the group to be as close to healthy as possible will be key to success.
“We need to get healthy. We have a couple of guys that I think will be available for that game that weren't, a couple guys that probably still aren't there,” Noonan explained. “The goal is to manage this week in a really smart way so that we're as healthy as possible and as fit as possible going into the first game. I would like to think that the guys will be up for this challenge and understand how to prepare themselves the right way to maximize their individual ability and performance, and then how that looks for the room.”
The win is good, and getting some answers with guys that hadn't been starting or coming in as reserves consistently. Good to have Obi (Nwobodo) back,” Noonan continued, highlighting an example of what that health can bring. “That's important for our group, and for the guys that were coming off of the international break. There was some challenging travel. There was some caution taken…but it was still a fun process to see how we could go out and have a strong performance.”
FC Cincinnati will have a little extra time to prepare themselves for the matchup than they usually would. Game 1 is scheduled for Monday, October 27th, meaning they will have nine days between matches rather than the typical one week from the regular season. Those extra two days may not be overwhelming, but giving FCC an extra couple of days between matches to recover, get healthy, and then ultimately sharpen their game for whatever Columbus brings to the game can be very valuable. That goes both ways, but FCC being at home will give them the advantage of travel and the crowd.
Again, razor-thin margins. But every little bit counts and could be the difference.
As for Columbus specific preparation, that is still to come. Pat Noonan said they would identify it in the next few days, but based on their results from Saturday, there are areas where an extra couple of days can help them improve.
“We'll start looking at that tomorrow, as far as the opponent, or in a couple days. For ourselves, the on-the-ball decisions and how we can continue to simplify the game but be efficient. I thought there were some really good moments, especially in the second half, but in the first half, where we find ourselves in trouble is getting the little plays wrong and the little details wrong. You have to get those things right in the playoffs. That's something we'll discuss,” Noonan said.
“Now knowing our next opponent, we'll start to look at some of the things that we can anticipate seeing in our preparation and early on, focus a lot on some of the ideas that we have to attack, to defend, to prepare.”
To be the best this year, to lift the MLS Cup in front of TQL Stadium on Saturday, December 6, they have to go through at least two playings of the Hell is Real derby. If they look back on this season having lifted the cup, I’ll bet it will have been made even sweeter by going through the Crew on their way there.