As a first-year FC Cincinnati player from Czechia, Pavel Bucha wasn't necessarily expected to appreciate the rivalry between his new club and the Philadelphia Union. But Bucha quickly detected something stood out about the teams' meetingsthis year, including a preseason meeting in Florida that nearly devolved into a mid-game brawl.
"Matches against them are always a little more competitive and challenging," Bucha said. "I'm here just first year and the team and the matches we play against them, I can feel that there is something else."
FC Cincinnati and Philadelphia Union will reconvene their rivalry in a high-stakes regular season finale Saturday at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania. Both clubs have something to play for and while FCC has already guaranteed itself a future in the upcoming postseason, the Union can't say the same.
FC Cincinnati will look to end the Union's playoff hopes on Decision Day, which is how MLS brands the final day of its regular season. All seeding and playoff qualification questions are answered on Decision Day, and usually around the same time as games in both conferences are scheduled to start simultaneously.
The matches typically end within moments of each other, too − a practice intended to preserve competitive balance and prevent clubs from doing things to manipulate the eventual playoff bracket.
For FC Cincinnati, there's nothing to manipulate as it is locked in as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. However, the club is considering the match against Philadelphia a meaningful game to end the year. A win would confirm its place in the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup, not to mention FCC is looking for a jumpstart after losing its last three games.
FC Cincinnati awards FC Cincinnati: Tyrone Marshall named MLS Next Pro's 2024 Coach of the Year
"More than the importance of just getting going into the playoffs is we're still competing for a Champions Cup berth," FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan said during a Thursday news conference. "And knowing that Philly's playing for a playoff berth, there's plenty on the line for both teams. So, of course, you want to have a good performance and a good result going into the playoffs, but we want to win the game to get into the Champions Cup."
FC Cincinnati is destined for a first-round MLS Cup playoff matchup with one of three possible clubs: New York City FC, Charlotte FC and New York Red Bulls.
The latest on Philadelphia Union
For Philadelphia Union, the stakes couldn't be higher on Saturday as the club looks to extend its streak of qualifying for the playoffs to seven years.
Philadelphia is hoping to eek into one of the wild-card playoff spots in the east. Nothing other than a win will do for the Union, and they'll also need help elsewhere. The road to the playoffs isn't farfetched for Philadelphia, though. The Union are three points back of the current Nos. 8 and 9 teams in the east standings − DC United and CF Montreal, respectively − and it has the tiebreakers it needs to overtake one or both of those clubs if it (goal difference, to be specific).
A win by the Union and a loss by one or both of D.C. and Montreal would pull Philadelphia up to 40 points and tied with the club that loses. The first playoff tiebreaker, total wins, wouldn't break the deadlock but the next tiebreaker is goal differential, and the Union have a far superior tally (plus-8) to D.C.'s minus-15 and Montreal's minus-18.
The Union will attempt to clinch their playoff spot during a time of relative transition for what has been one of the league's most reliable contenders in recent years. The names and faces are starting to change at Subaru Park, and the club saw defensive midfield stalwart Jose Martinez depart via transfer this past summer.
Martinez was one of the lead characters in the ongoing rivalry between FC Cincinnati and Philadelphia, and the running feud between the clubs figures to be lessened by his absence.
"(Martinez) just has that drive, that competitiveness. He's got a winning mentality, and certainly that's, you know, a loss for them," Noonan said of Martinez's departure for Brazilian powerhouse, Corinthians. "I think we all see that, because he was such an important piece to their success. And like you said, he drives the heated exchanges and the way that these games feel, or have felt in the past. So, yeah, I think you lose a little piece of the intensity and the history of our matchups and I guess rivalry, as you say. But I still think you're going to see a lot of similarities on Saturday that you have in the past because of, like I said, what's at stake and still so many pieces that have been a part of the last three years."
The other game this weekend
FC Cincinnati 2 of MLS Next Pro, the league's second-division developmental league, will host its first-ever playoff match Sunday at Northern Kentucky University's NKU Soccer Stadium (7 p.m.).
As the Eastern Conference's No. 1 overall seed in MLS Next Pro, FC Cincinnati 2 earned the right to select its first-round playoff opponent, and it chose Crown Legacy, the developmental affiliate of Charlotte FC.
"FCC2" head coach Tyrone Marshall, who on Wednesday was named the MLS Next Pro Coach of the Year, addressed media members during a Thursday news conference at the Mercy Health Training Center.
"I don't want to give away too much. I think that's part of the reason why 'pick-your-opponent' is so unique because it's a double-edged sword. You could put more fuel on the fire for the opponent and have them coming in riled up," Marshall said. "We don't want to give them more fuel. Listen, we're the No. 1 seed. They're the No. 8 seed. We haven't played them in a while, so that's the matchup we want to go with and go from there. They're a very good team."
The (MLS) game: FC Cincinnati vs. Philadelphia Union
Kickoff: 6 p.m. ET | Subaru Park; Chester, Pennsylvania
Broadcast: Apple TV MLS Season Pass
All-time series: The Union lead the all-time series against FC Cincinnati with a 7-4-3 record.
Cincinnati.com prediction: Philadelphia Union 3, FC Cincinnati 1
FC Cincinnati
Record (MLS): 17-11-5, 58 points; Third place in Eastern Conference
Goals for: 56 (No. 4 in east; No. 10 in MLS)
Goals against: 47 (Tied for No. 3 in east; tied for No. 7 in MLS)
Head coach : Pat Noonan, third season as Cincinnati manager
Projected starting XI : Roman Celentano (GK), Alvas Powell, Miles Robinson, Ian Murphy, DeAndre Yedlin, Yamil Asad, Obinna Nwobodo, Pavel Bucha, Luciano Acosta, Luca Orellano, Kevin Kelsy.
Philadelphia Union
Record (MLS): 9-14-10, 37 points; 11th place in Eastern Conference
Goals for: 61 (No. 3 in east; tied for No. 6 in MLS)
Goals against: 53 (No. 9 in east; No. 17 in MLS)
Head coach : Jim Curtin
Projected starting XI : Andre Blake, Kai Wagner, Jack Elliott, Jakob Glesnes, Nathan Harriel, Danley Jean Jacques, Leon Flach, Quinn Sullivan, Daniel Gazdag, Mikael Uhre, Tai Baribo.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Can FC Cincinnati find momentum in season finale at Philadelphia Union?
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