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Heading into the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs, top-seeded Inter Miami CF, reigning MLS Cup champion the Columbus Crew, and FC Cincinnati were chief among the favorites for MLS Cup out of the East, but the tides have shifted dramatically in the postseason to where either Orlando City SC or the New York Red Bulls will be the conference’s representative at MLS Cup presented by Audi. Orlando head coach Óscar Pareja returns to the Conference Finals for the first time since 2015 with FC Dallas and in his fifth season in charge of the club. This is the first time the club has advanced to the Eastern Conference Final, with Uruguayan international midfielder Facundo Torres continuing to come up with big moments and clutch scoring from Ramiro Enrique, who scored the game-winner against Atlanta United. Now, after defeating Atlanta and Charlotte, the Lions will look to assert Eastern Conference dominance by stopping the Cinderella run of the Red Bulls and advancing to their first-ever MLS Cup. The Red Bulls are no strangers to Eastern Conference Finals with five appearances since 2008, but the club has not returned to MLS Cup since losing the championship match in 2008. Despite being the lowest-seeded team remaining, the pressure is on the Red Bulls to take advantage of their postseason run and lift the club’s first MLS Cup title. First-year head coach Sandro Schwarz helped the league’s youngest roster qualify for the playoffs for a league-record 15th consecutive, and now they have a chance to become the lowest seeded team to reach MLS Cup in league history.
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