Atlanta United eliminate Lionel Messi, Inter Miami from MLS Cup

No team in MLS entered the playoffs on thinner margins than Atlanta United. It struggled through the back half of the regular season, selling big-name players like Thiago Almada and dropping coach Gonzalo Pineda as part of a club-wide rebuild. With a team of MLS journeymen and an under-qualified interim coach, Atlanta overcame extreme odds to make the Eastern Conference wild-card game and survived a tense penalty shootout against CF Montréal to win it.

Atlanta came into its three-game series with Inter Miami as one of the biggest underdogs in MLS history. It lost Game 1, but never looked overawed or out of its league; goalkeeper Brad Guzan made some spectacular saves to keep the game close. Atlanta brought that momentum into Game 2 and shocked Miami by pulling off a late victory in front of 60,000 fans in Georgia. It was Portuguese winger Xande Silva who scored the winner, sailing past Miami full-back Marcelo Weigandt to slide the ball into the back of the net.

Game 3, then, was set to be one for the ages. Miami needed to win to restore its “best in MLS” reputation; Atlanta needed to win to save its season. It was Miami who struck first, with Paraguayan winger Matias Rojas slotting a clinical shot past Atlanta’s near post.

But Atlanta wasn’t ready to let Miami walk away with the series. It struck back immediately, with Senegalese striker Jamal Thiare scoring two brilliant shots in three minutes. Atlanta entered halftime with a deserved 2-1 lead.

The two teams traded blows in the second half, with Messi finding Miami a tying goal and Polish midfielder Bartosz Slisz restoring Atlanta’s lead shortly thereafter. But it was the defense, not the offense, that pushed the second half in Atlanta’s favor. 40-year-old goalkeeper Brad Guzan — a Premier League and U. S. Men’s National Team veteran with strong MLS roots — played the game of his life to deny Miami and keep Atlanta’s lead intact.

On one hand, Miami’s early playoff exit is bad news for MLS. The league relies on superstars like Messi to drive interest in its matches, and with him—and other big-name players like D. C. United’s Christian Benteke and Columbus’s Cucho Hernandez — eliminated from MLS Cup contention, the league will have to work harder to engage casual fans.

On the other, though, it’s a testament to just how strong MLS has become. Messi may be one of the greatest players of all time, but even he can’t turn up to MLS and bend the competition to his will. The collective power of teams like Atlanta United has grown powerful enough to frustrate and nullify him in key moments. That can only be viewed as powerful progress for the league as a whole.

Atlanta will move on to face Orlando City, in the Eastern Conference semifinal. The winner of that match will play either the New York Red Bulls or NYCFC in the Eastern Conference final; the winner of that will go to the MLS Cup.

Miami, meanwhile, will lick its wounds and begin preparations for the 2025 season.