After their 2-2 draw with FC Cincinnati, Atlanta United discovered that they’d be taking up Columbus Crew within the first spherical of MLS Cup playoffs.
The Columbus fixture hasn’t been too form this season for Atlanta, as they had been decimated 6-1 in March and simply barely scraped a 1-1 draw earlier this month at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The final time the Five Stripes prevailed over the Crew was again within the 2021 marketing campaign, only a few days earlier than Gonzalo Pineda was named head coach of the 2018 MLS Cup champions. Now, on the street at Lower.com Field for recreation one in a best-of-three sequence, issues will likely be troublesome with out MVP candidate Thiago Almada, who was proven a second yellow card within the second half in opposition to Cincinnati.
While Pineda might have felt that his workforce may’ve matched up higher with completely different opponents primarily based on seeding, he is aware of that to attain the last word aim – successful MLS Cup – you need to get via the perfect of the perfect to take action.
“Good opponent, as all of them are,” he mentioned after the draw with Cincinnati. “We are a club that wants to fight for championships. When you compete for trophies you have to pretty much beat everyone. That’s the path. You cannot choose really who you want or don’t want.”
The Five Stripes hope to again heading in the right direction to racking up trophies, as they missed out on the postseason in 2022, simply the second time of their historical past that has occurred (2020).
“Orlando could have been difficult, Columbus will be difficult,” he added. “New England or Philadelphia would also have been difficult tasks. It’s Columbus, we know them, they know us. It’s three games and the best team will advance.”
Columbus play host to the Five Stripes within the first spherical of MLS Cup playoffs, with recreation one set for November 1 at Lower.com Field.
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