Fatigue may be a factor, mental and physical, when the Columbus Crew and host Philadelphia Union resume MLS play on Wednesday.
Each is coming off a Leagues Cup match on Sunday under different circumstances.
The Crew (12-4-7, 43 points) played in their third final in nine months when they defeated Los Angeles FC 3-1 in a near replica of the Crew’s 2-1 victory in MLS Cup on Dec. 9. The Crew also lost the CONCACAF Champions Cup title match 3-0 at Pachuca of Liga MX on June 1.
Philadelphia (6-10-9, 27 points) lost on penalties at home to Colorado in the third-place match with a berth in the Champions Cup at stake.
It was another blow for the Union, which sits one spot out of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference with nine matches left.
“We need to keep our heads up after we lost (Sunday) and get ready to face Columbus,” said Union striker Tai Baribo, who led the Leagues Cup with seven goals. “Of course, Columbus is a very good team. Everybody knows this, but we are in our building and we need the points.”
This match was rescheduled from last Saturday but will be the second meeting in a week. The Crew won 3-1 at home in a Leagues Cup semifinal on Aug. 21.
The Crew sits third in the East, 13 points behind Inter Miami and five back of FC Cincinnati, having lost to each earlier this season.
However, the Crew has played three fewer matches than the rest of the conference because of postponed matches during their Champions Cup run.
Crew coach Wilfried Nancy is less worried about the congested schedule than how his team performs down the stretch.
“I don’t mind about the Supporters’ Shield and trying to win the MLS Cup. I mind about the consistency that we can have and how many games that we can win,” he said. “We have 11 games, 12 games to play to achieve something. And we are going to try to do everything to be limitless.”
–Field Level Media
