An opportunity for silverware in just six matches awaits if Atlanta United does one thing: win. It's League's Cup time in the A.
Atlanta United will play two of their three matches at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, starting Wednesday night against Liga MX side Club Necaxa. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET tomorrow night, the beginning of a fiery competition where the 5-Stripes will face three sides they've never faced in competitive matches.
Head coach Ronny Deila and his side took to the pitch with intention in a mostly-closed-to-media training session Tuesday. Atlanta United worked on set pieces, crossing, attacking buildup and more.
Availability updates ahead of Wednesday's match
The club released its availability report Tuesday afternoon and provided a quick update on the health of Matt Edwards. The defender will miss an estimated four weeks with a hamstring injury, and his rehab process will determine his return to the pitch.
Player | Injury | Status |
Matt Edwards | Hamstring | Out |
Jay Fortune | Foot | Out |
Atlanta United brings a majority healthy squad to the Leagues Cup, with just Edwards and Fortune on the report. Having depth will be crucial to navigate three matches within the span of a week.
Gregersen's road to recovery
Stian Gregersen, after missing over three months with a quad injury, made his return to the starting XI Saturday against Seattle. He spoke after training Tuesday on what went into his rehabilitation and how he felt getting back out on the pitch.
Missing three months, especially after initially expecting to miss less time, is a frustrating stint for any player. He spent much of his training time running around the pitch individually with trainer Chris Murphy.
"It's very tough to not be involved, just running around here with Chris, but we have worked very hard," Gregersen said after training Tuesday. "You can see I played almost 70 minutes after three months. So with my fitness, I feel good."
Gregersen returns to a different room full of defenders, and specifically center backs, around him. Atlanta United signed Enea Mihaj and Juan Berrocal, two central defenders, in the month of July. Mihaj made his club debut Saturday, and though Berrocal isn't yet eligible to play, earning play time will be a greater task. The Norwegian encouraged the challenge, understanding it'll drive performance.
"[There's] always pressure," Gregersen said. "It's always healthy to get competition into the group, and hopefully that will give us a better result."
What it would take to make the knockout rounds
We've covered the new 2025 Leagues Cup format, one that ensures inter-league matchups through at least the quarterfinals, and now it's time for the 5-Stripes to face it.
Matches will be played to 90 minutes, and if the score is level, sent straight to penalty kicks. The winner of the shootout will receive two points, and the loser will earn one — similar to MLS NEXT Pro's format.
Gregersen got into how a format with no tying affects his mentality over the course of a match.
"Of course, we go in for the three instead of two," he said. "But, of course, we have to think about, if it's tied in the last minutes, then [maybe] we have to think longer. But, we go for three points instead of trying to get stuff like that."
The all-or-nothing approach that Gregersen reflected best serves the 5-Stripes if they want to make it to the knockout phase of the competition. Only the top four point earners from each league will make the quarterfinals. With 16 teams from MLS and just three qualifying phase matches, it's likely that nine points will be required to advance.
That's not a guarantee, though, and two points would certainly better Atlanta United's odds of advancing more than one or none. So, in training Tuesday, Deila and his staff prepared accordingly by practicing penalty kicks. That section of training was closed off to media — likely to keep potential takers secret — but the work goes to show the 5-Stripes are ready for anything.
If necessary, Deila said he would base his decisions on penalty takers on feel more than analytics.
"It's what you see, how they feel," Deila said after training Tuesday. "You can see who's comfortable doing that, who's not so comfortable. The feeling inside the game is important as well, to feel who has a good game."
It all starts with Necaxa, a physical side that, according to Atlanta United's study, presses relentlessly man-to-man.
"We're going to change a little bit, but it's not different. We want to play our game, our identity," Gregersen said. "Of course, if they go man-to-man, we have to try to drag them out and open the center and play up, set and then go through. We're going be prepared for it."
The fire of international competition will make Wednesday night's match all the more intriguing. Deila previewed what Necaxa brings to the table by saying he wants to see his team fight for a result in the way he sees Mexican teams do on a regular basis.
"[They're] very energetic," Deila said. "They play a style [where] they span all over the place, pushing and pressing and counter pressing, so the intensity will be high, and we have to match that physical battle. Mexican teams know how to find a way to win games. We also have to match that."
