Sean Zawadzki was 17 when the Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnati first met. It was mid-June 2017. FC Cincinnati was in its second USL season and drew the in-state Crew in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup.

Despite being the MLS team and therefore the perceived favorites, the Black & Gold left Cincinnati with a 1-0 loss, marking another early-round exit in the Open Cup.

Zawadzki, a Crew Academy product, didn’t make the two-hour trip south with roughly 1,000 other Crew fans for the game, but does remember watching it on television. Like others who supported the Black & Gold, Zawadzki was disappointed by a result that would spark the Hell Is Real Derby.

Fast-forward nine years, and the rivalry between Columbus and Cincinnati looks very different. FC Cincinnati is now in its eighth season in MLS. The club no longer plays at Nippert Stadium, the site of that Open Cup game, but has built its own 26,000-seat TQL Stadium.

The Crew has undergone a makeover as well, with new ownership and a state-of-the-art downtown stadium, ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, replacing Historic Crew Stadium, where this rivalry was once played. The Black & Gold have added two MLS Cup titles, a League Cup win, and an appearance in the Champions Cup Final.

These two teams have met 21 times, including that Open Cup game and Columbus’ thrilling 3-2 Eastern Conference Final win at TQL Stadium in 2023, with the Crew winning nine and drawing six. 

The Hell Is Real rivalry remains alive and well.

“Kind of the rivalry that stands (out) and the history it’s been from the very first game,” Zawadzki, now a starting center back and the Black & Gold’s captain, said this week. “Being a young kid supporting the Crew. Something I have kind of thought about a little bit the last couple of years was the first game was an Open Cup game. In Cincy at Nippert Stadium and kind of how much it meant to them. So, now fast forward to today, you’re competing against another MLS team. Your state rival.”

Columbus and Cincinnati meet Saturday at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field for the first of two regular-season Hell Is Real Derbys. It marks the first meeting between the clubs since FC Cincinnati knocked the Crew out of the MLS Cup playoffs last November.

This game also has a different feel than many recent contests. Over the last few seasons, the Black & Gold and the Orange and Blue have consistently been near the top of the Eastern Conference table. Coming out of the two-month World Cup break, both teams were closer to missing the playoffs than to winning the East.

Following Wednesday night’s 2-1 home loss to New York City FC, Columbus sits in 11th place in the East, three points out of the final playoff spot. A three-match undefeated run before the break, including two wins under interim head coach Laurent Courtiois, left Crew fans optimistic, but the defeat to an undermanned NYCFC side has derailed all momentum.

“Obviously, it’s a game you want to forget about,” Zawadzki said. “It’s really frustrating, obviously, being away for two months, and that’s the game. But it’s the way things happen.”

Fortunately, there was not much time to lament the loss, the Black & Gold’s eighth of the season, which matched last year’s total. After reviewing the tape of the match and going over the mistakes that led to conceding two goals on five on-target shots and to very few offensive chances until the game was already out of reach, Courtois quickly turned his players’ attention to Saturday’s derby match.

“Personally, I feel it’s a blessing to have to straight up jump into an event like this,” the interim head coach said on Friday. “You don’t need to talk about motivation, you don’t need to talk about importance. Straight up make the adjustment that we want to make, and by the way, this is a big rivalry.”

While many players on the Crew’s roster have played in the Hell Is Real Derby and understand this rivalry, turnover and injuries this season have meant that new players are likely to feature for the first time against Cincinnati on Saturday evening. Of the starting 11 on Wednesday, only seven had played in the rivalry before. Rotation is expected, which should include players more familiar with Hell Is Real, but the departure of Diego Rossi, Jacen Russell-Rowe and Darlington Nagbe, all of whom have previously made an impact against FC Cincinnati, means there could be a different feel for the home team.

Even Courtois, who coached in the MLS NEXT Pro version of this derby and watched the first-team games from the stands, is technically a newcomer.

“I think the biggest thing is relaying the message of how much it means for the city and for the fans,” Zawadzki, who will play in his ninth Hell Is Real Derby Saturday, said. “The energy the fans bring every single game we play Cincy, home or away, it’s always there. And I think that in itself just brings that extra energy and letting guys know that it’s not any typical game. It’s a game that has a lot riding on it. Like I keep saying, not only for us, but for the fans and that feeling that they have and just seeing the kind of competition between the fans during the game as well.”

Added midfielder Dylan Chambost: “I think tomorrow we have to be ready to fight. We have to be ready to control the game, to put a lot of intensity straight to the beginning of the game. We know the fans are going to be crazy, the atmosphere is going to be massive, so we have to take this energy and put it back on the field. And we are ready for this. Like Sean said, it doesn’t matter if you are tired or if you have lost the last game. Tomorrow is going to be very important. We need points. We need to win, especially at home.”

While the Crew has lost some key players this season, including Designated Player forward Wessam Abou Ali, the club has made additions, including Brais Méndez from Real Sociedad in Spain’s La Liga and Lautaro Giaccone from Argentine top-flight side Argentino Juniors. Méndez arrived in Columbus on Wednesday, attended the match against New York City and was introduced to the media on Friday, saying he will need time to be ready to play. Giaccone is awaiting his work visa, but club sources told Massive Report he is close to arriving and could be in town early next week.

While Courtois is excited about the new additions and believes they will help spark an offense that has scored just 22 goals in 16 matches this season, he can’t look ahead this week. He has to work with the players available to beat Cincinnati on Saturday.

“It’s tough,” Courtois admitted. “…But the next guy has to step in. And I’m asking the exact same recognitions of the game. The execution could be different because of certain qualities compared to specificities of each individual, but in terms of game recognition and what I’m asking on each phase of the game, it’s the same.”

A player the Black & Gold could use a resurgence from is Daniel Gazdag. Acquired in April 2025 in a deal with the Philadelphia Union for $4 million, Gazdag has scored six goals and has five assists in MLS play for Columbus. While his fit in the Crew’s system remains a question, he is the only available Designated Player and acknowledges that his time has to be now.

“Somebody needs to step up,” Gazdag recently told The Dispatch. “And, obviously, because I’m the third DP, I’m the one who has to step up and take the team on my back.”

After scoring off the bench in a friendly against Burnley and late in a penalty kick against NYCFC, Saturday’s Hell Is Real Derby would be an ideal time for Gazdag to be at his best.

“At the end of the day, the impact in the box is going to be really important when it comes to DP, “So that, and I’ve got to say that I’ve seen stuff since he’s back from the break, from Danny, that is really encouraging because he’s getting more aggressive in certain aspects of the game that I was really looking for him to make adjustments. And so that’s one part

“And the other part is his capacity to link the team, both from the defenders to the attackers. And his recognition of the game where to compensate and make the run for the teammates, has always been there, but I feel that the last couple of weeks he’s adding a little bit more aggressivity in the latter two.”

While this will not be a top-of-the-table clash familiar from Hell Is Real Derbys, it remains one of the most important games on the Crew schedule. Although Wednesday’s result was far from ideal, the Black & Gold players understand what’s at stake on Saturday.

Perhaps no one knows this better than Zawadzki, who has grown up amid this rivalry.

“I think no matter what, going into Hell Is Real is the excitement that surrounds the game. So I think the previous results are what they are, but at the end of the day, you have to find a way to get up for that game no matter what. And I think that’s the mentality. Things can be wrong. You can be on a four-game win streak. It doesn’t matter. Hell Is Real is a game that stands by itself in the magnitude that stands with it.”