Crew begin title defense vs. confident Red Bulls

The Columbus Crew start their quest to become the fourth back-to-back MLS Cup champions when they host the New York Red Bulls in their Round 1 series opener on Tuesday.

Seventh-seeded New York is a familiar opponent for second-seeded Columbus in the best-of-three set.

The series' second match will be Sunday in Harrison, N.J., where the Crew edged the host Red Bulls 3-2 in the regular-season finale on Oct. 19 on a 97th-minute goal by Malte Amundsen.

Columbus led 2-0 before goals by Emil Forsberg in the 78th and 87th minutes tied the match. That performance has New York confident it can compete against the league leader in goal differential (plus-32).

"We believe we can beat Columbus," Red Bulls coach Sandro Schwarz said. "We have to defend better, especially against a good team like Columbus. When we make simple mistakes individually in our defense then for sure we will have no chance against Columbus because of their quality. They can punish you directly in these moments.

"But on the other side, when we are active and we play intense, we play strong, when we play forward, use our dynamic action with the ball, against the ball, then I would say we are able to have a chance against Columbus."

The Red Bulls will have to contend with league MVP finalist Cucho Hernandez. The Crew forward has six goals and four assists in his last six matches and has set the club's single-season record with 33 goal contributions (19 goals, 14 assists)

"Everyone knows Cucho, he wants all the time to win the games," Crew defender Yevhen Cheberko said. "He's so competitive in the trainings and the games. Everyone feels more responsibility to play the same way."

The Red Bulls will counter with Forsberg, who has produced three goals and two assists in the past three matches.

A third match, if necessary, will be Nov. 10 in Columbus. Along with their win in the finale, the Crew also scored a 3-0 home win over New York on March 16.

Columbus bids to join the Los Angeles Galaxy (2011-12), Houston Dynamo (2006-07) and D.C. United (1996-97) as repeat champions.

A fourth MLS Cup (they also won in 2008 and 2020) would tie the Crew with D.C. United for second-most behind the Galaxy's five.

--Field Level Media