It feels good to come back home after three consecutive road matches last week for Atlanta United. The 5-Stripes will host Inter Miami CF in Game 2 of the Round One Best-of-3 series. After dropping the opening match by the narrowest of margins, 2-1, the team is excited to come back home and play in front of the loudest and rowdiest crowd in MLS. Atlanta has to win, whether in regulation or in a penalty shootout, to force a Game 3 next week down in Fort Lauderdale. Let’s take a look at the Tools to the Match presented by Home Depot against Inter Miami CF.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium can be one of the most intimidating stadiums to play in. Especially when the capacity is raised to its maximum and all levels of the stands are open. Visiting players know it and feel it. The 5-Stripes know it and feel it as well. In the playoffs, that energy and those emotions get cranked up another notch. In the club’s eight-year history, Atlanta has played five playoff matches with a Full Venue capacity at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The team is 4-0-1 (W-L-T) in those matches and has outscored the opponents 9-1 in those five matches. It’s time to add another resounding victory to the ledger this weekend.
One of the keys to victory on Saturday night will be the start of the match. Last time out, Miami jumped to an early lead in the second minute. Atlanta needs to do a better job of staying focused from the opening whistle. If they can do that and they can feed off the energy that the full venue crowd is going to bring, that would go a long way to coming out victorious on Saturday night. That doesn’t necessarily mean the team has to score right away. Sometimes a clean tackle, a hustle play to keep a ball in play or a good pressing action to regain the ball high up field can send the crowd into a roaring frenzy. The 5-Stripes need to feed off every ounce of energy the 17s are going to bring to this match on the weekend.
After a long and grueling season up until this point, it comes down to winning on Saturday night to keep the season going. When the legs get tired on Saturday, that’s when the team will need the lift from the crowd to keep pushing and keep running. That home field advantage is the best in MLS and the team will need that once again on Saturday to defeat a top side like Miami. Come out early. Be Loud. Be Rowdy. Be Proud.
