In a New York state of mind: Red Bulls take on NYCFC (Jul 06, 2018)
While it is true every game is different, there is something especially unique about the latest Hudson River Derby between New York City FC and the New York Red Bulls.
When the teams line up Sunday evening at Yankee Stadium, there will be a new coach at the helm for both teams.
Following Patrick Vieira's departure from NYCFC to coach OGC Nice last month, Jesse Marsch stepped down with the Red Bulls to coach Red Bull Leipzig.
Dome Torrent will get his first taste of one of MLS' most fiercely contested rivalries in his third game in charge of NYCFC, but the former longtime assistant under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City is no stranger to what makes derbies special.
"I understand how special it is for our fans. Normally in these type of games, there's a lot of passion," he said. "We will try to win the game for our fans because right now it's very important for us because at the end, never forget, we play for our fans. When the fans' feeling is so proud for us, that means we won the game."
On Friday, the Red Bulls announced Chris Armas as Marsch's replacement in a transition about as seamless as possible given Armas was Marsch's top assistant for the past 3 1/2 years.
"I'm excited to get going and no better way to start in a few days than a derby match with New York City," Armas said. "It's a great team we're playing against. It's a derby match. It's the Bronx, its two teams fighting for the standings. We're ready as a team, you can see in the standings what the team is all about."
Coming off a 1-0 win over Toronto FC, the Red Bulls (10-4-2) are on a three-match winning streak -- unbeaten in their last four -- and are second in the Eastern Conference, five points behind Atlanta United with three games in hand.
Torrent said he has watched the Red Bulls' last five games and is certain where they are among the league's elite.
"I think they maybe are the top team, maybe right now, it's my opinion, is the best team in MLS because in the last period they play amazing," Torrent said. "But we have a good team as well. It's a derby and we play at home and we will try to win the game."
NYCFC (9-4-4) is one point behind the Red Bulls in the standings after a 3-2 loss to the Chicago Fire last Saturday. It is 0-4-2 in its last six road games but 7-0-1 at Yankee Stadium, one of five teams still unbeaten at home this season.
"They've just been amazing at home," Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles said. "We look at their record and see that they're 7-0-1 and we have to give them their due respect, and yet there's a little part of us thinking, 'Man, it would be really nice to be the first team to win at their place.' "
The star strikers for both teams have been at the forefront of the derby since its inception in 2015. And while Bradley Wright-Phillips, who has scored 11 goals in 10 league games against NYCFC, is fully fit and in form, NYCFC will likely be without David Villa, who hasn't trained fully this week and missed the match against the Fire with a knee injury.
The Red Bulls won the first of the three regular-season meetings in May, 4-0, at Red Bull Arena, and also defeated NYCFC by the same score a month later in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup.
"(Dome) will prepare us well," NYCFC midfielder Alex Ring said. "It's time for us to show up on Sunday and show our true face because our last two games against them were not so good. I think everyone has that in the back of their minds and we want to make it right on Sunday."
