THE New York Red Bulls Achieve a feat in the first round of the 2024 Audi Cup MLS Playoffs?

After a 1-0 victory against the number 2 seed Columbus’ crew In Game 1 of their Best-of-3 series, No. 7 seed RBNY can eliminate the defending MLS Cup champions on Sunday at Red Bull Arena (4:30 p.m. ET | MLS Season Pass).

“We (want) to also show that we can repeat our performance,” said RBNY head coach Sandro Schwarz. “Repeat it with intensity, repeat it with energy, to be compact and use our moments.”

Heading into the playoffs, the Crew were widely considered one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference. Head coach Wilfred Nancy’s team is the reigning MLS Cup champion, League Cup winner of the 2024 title, and narrowly missed adding a Concacaf Champions Cup earlier this year.

But the Red Bulls played the role of spoiler in the first match of the Best-of-3 series. Carlos Coronel made eight saves and loaned striker DP for the summer Felipe Carballo scored a game-winning goal to put them on the brink of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“I would say when we start now, especially in the playoffs, we have to be better in our possession of the ball. Columbus could be difficult for us, because they have been together for so long now and they are building with a lot of quality,” added Schwarz.

“It’s the second game now, and they lost the first game, so we won the first game, and now the situation is clear… we know them and how we want to defend. Hopefully we also know how we want to be active with the ball.

While the Red Bulls lost both 2024 regular season meetings with the Crew, they managed to retain Cucho Hernández And Christian Ramirez off the scoresheet in the first game.

Sunday, with the Uruguayan star Diego Rossi (back) potentially back in the lineup, replicating that feat becomes even more difficult against a Crew team whose title defense is on the line.

“I think nothing has changed from their idea of ​​how they want to play,” Schwarz said. “They have a lot of players with that similar type… but we also have to be very strong in our defense as a whole, and not just one person against him.”

Coming off their first away playoff victory since 2017, RBNY will need to slow down one of the best road teams in MLS. The Crew posted a 9W-3D-5L away record in their regular season with 66 points (19W-6L-9L overall).

“He’s obviously a very tough opponent. Coming into the playoffs, most people probably considered them one of the favorites to win it all, and we have a lot of confidence in that performance,” said the RBNY winger. Lewis Morgan.

“We know they’re going to make adjustments, and we just have to be ready with the same toughness and energy that we brought to the game.”

If the Red Bulls can complete the upset at home, they will avoid a decisive third game on November 10 at Lower.com Field.

“We urge all fans to come out, bring a friend and try to fill the stadium because these are the games you play for all season,” Morgan said. “This is what we competed for every day this year. It’s for games like this, where we can try to advance in the playoffs in front of our fans.