Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba are in the starting lineup for Inter Miami Saturday night for the playoff game against Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. But the fourth former Barcelona star, midfielder Sergio Busquets, did not travel due to an undisclosed illness.
The rest of the Miami starting XI includes goalkeeper Drake Callender; defenders Marcelo Weigandt, Tomas Aviles, David Martinez, Noah Allen; midfielders Fede Redondo, Diego Gomez, and Yannick Bright.
Atlanta United opened the stadium to full capacity for the game, anticipating a potential sellout of 71,000. The last time these two teams played here, a 2-2 tie on Sept. 18, a crowd of 67,795 was in the building.
Top-seeded Miami, which set a league record for most points in a season (74 over 34 games), aims to clinch the best-of-three series after winning Game 1 at home 2-1 last Friday. Suarez and Alba scored, and Messi had an assist.
Atlanta United, which squeaked into the playoffs as a wild card, will try to stay alive and force Game 3, which would be Nov. 9 at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
“I’m already buzzing about what that place is going to be like,” Atlanta interim coach Rob Valentino said of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “My message to the team was that these people are waiting to cheer for you, you’ve been three on the road to finish into the playoffs and you can feel the buzz getting back for them. Even all the people coming to see [Lionel] Messi, no problem. I love it, because eventually, like last time when things were going well, they were also cheering [for us]. I get it, come to see the superstars, come and see our team fight and compete but these boys aren’t done yet.”
The Atlanta starting lineup is: goalkeeper/captain Brad Guzan, who made eight saves in Game 1; defenders Ronald Hernandez, Derrick Williams, Luis Abram, Pedro Amador; midfielders Bartosz Slisz, Saba Lobajanidze, Dax McCarty, Jay Fortune, Alexey Miranchuk; and forward Jamal Thiare.
The 7 p.m. game is being broadcast on Apple TV MLS Season Pass.
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