It’s Decision Day – the final matchday of the MLS Regular Season – a day that can take many twists and turns, especially for Atlanta United who can finish anywhere from second place to fifth. But the Five Stripes won’t be doing much scoreboard-watching on Sunday.
“We know that we control our own destiny as far as getting third or fourth place, and that’s very important,” captain Michael Parkhurst told reporters Friday. “We want to have a home game if we play in that opening round, and getting a victory ensures that. As long as we take care of our business, whether we finish second, third or fourth, so be it.”
Getting three points Sunday will be no easy task as Atlanta United hosts the Supporters Shield winners, Toronto FC. The Canadian club has been one of the stories of the season, and can lock up the best points total in MLS history if they win in Atlanta on Sunday.
“They’re very good individually, but I think they’re even better as a team,” Julian Gressel says. “They play together, and they’re very accustomed to the style that they play, and they’re good within the system they play.”
With attacking talent like Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore on the field, Toronto boasts one of the most potent attacking threats in the league, but head coach Tata Martino is emphasizing to his players to not get too much tunnel vision on the front line.
We can’t just pay attention to those [Altidore and Giovinco], we have to also be careful with who’s feeding them the ball,” he said through a translator Friday. “So we have to be attentive to Bradley, to Vazquez, to Morrow, Delgado – the guys who are feeding the forwards the ball. So we have keep an eye on those guys very carefully.”
Atlanta has been boosted this week by the return of Miguel Almirón and Chris McCann to full training, but will be without center back Leandro González Pirez, who is suspended due to the accumulation of yellow cards. With the playoffs looming just around the corner, the team is expecting and preparing for a full-strength XI from Toronto as well.
“I think any team that’s going into the last few games shouldn’t be taking the foot off the gas,” Anton Walkes said. “The season isn’t done yet, so you want to make sure you’re in the best rhythm going into the playoffs, because anything could happen then regardless of where you finish in the top six. So I don’t see them easing off. Every game is competitive and we’re focused on being as competitive as we always are here.”
While the players said the stakes aren’t quite as high as the win-or-go-home playoff atmosphere, they’re fully focused on accomplishing an important objective in the final match of the regular season.
“We’re obviously playing for something important,” Brad Guzan said, “making sure we finish in a position to host a game come the middle of next week. That’s important because we know the atmosphere and environment we can create here at home. For us that’s obviously huge. And once we hit playoffs, that’s its own mini-season, and from there we’ll take it one day at a time.”
Sunday’s match kicks off at 4:00 p.m. from Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with more than 70,426 tickets already sold for the club’s second record-setting attendance of the season. Click here for one of the limited tickets remaining, or if you can’t make it, click here for everything you need to know to tune in from afar.
