Fueled by a mix of self-confidence and good fortune, Atlanta are looking to extend this 2024 MLS postseason run long as they can
The only way to describe Atlanta United's 2024 MLS Playoffs run is with hyperbole, exaggeration to the point of at which it feels silly – because, in reality, it is.
Think about it – 34 points separated Inter Miami and the in the 2024 Supporters' Shield Standings at the end of the regular season. In no fathomable world was there even the slightest indication that Brad Guzan and Co. would slay the three-headed dragon of South Beach that was Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Diego Gomez, one of MLS' best attacking trios.
But here we are, just days out from the MLS Conference Semifinals, and Inter Miami's season is over while Atlanta is alive, and thriving.
The 40-year-old Guzan was their savior during the three-match series, with Atlanta winning the final two matches after dropping the opener. The ex-USMNT goalkeeper stood on his head and grew a few extra pairs of arms each match to see his squad over the line. It was a three-game stretch of goalkeeping heroics that the league has rarely seen before.
But top to bottom, Atlanta are a team with character, and even though their postseason run feels unimaginable still, they're ready to fight, ready to show their resilience. The latter word is the key. Entering the final day of the regular season, the only had a 10 percent chance to qualify for the postseason. They needed a monumental road victory, and help from multiple results around the league, just to get an invitation to playoff soccer.
Now, they've sent Messi, Suarez and Miami packing. The No. 9 seed, a Wildcard team, are now just two wins away from competing in MLS Cup. That is not hyperbole. It's reality.
Interim head coach Rob Valentino has this team locked-in with a vision, and they're playing some of the league's best soccer at the moment. Perhaps it's luck, maybe it's the fact that this is just how the playoffs work in professional sports, or, just perhaps, the are just MLS' team of destiny in 2024. GOAL looks at how the magic has come together.
Get the MLS Season Pass today!Stream games nowIMGANFour must-win games
At the start of October, Atlanta United were in a dire position after a 2-1 loss to CF Montreal. The would need to beat two teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference – and eventual playoff – standings for even a remote chance at qualifying for a play-in Wildcard game.
First, it was the New York Red Bulls, and they got the job done in stoppage-time with a late 97th-minute winner to secure a 2-1 victory. That was win No. 1. Then, it was a 14-day wait until Decision Day, and they had to travel to Inter&Co Stadium to take on Orlando City. But again, job done, and another 2-1 victory – this time, two goals in the opening 16 minutes propelled them to win no. 2. They clinched a spot in the Wildcard match against CF Montreal, the team who beat them three weeks earlier. But once again, they got the job done – but just barely, this time. After a 2-2 draw in regulation, Atlanta claimed victory in penalties, winning 5-4, with Guzan denying Tom Pearce from the spot in the shootout.
Their reward? A three-match series with – what on paper, anyway – appeared to be the best team in MLS: Miami and Messi. And yet, they somehow survived.
Game one was a 2-1 victory for the , with that familiar scoreline of 2-1 knocking them down. In game two at Mercedes Benz Stadium, though, they responded brilliantly to keep their season alive with another 2-1 victory. That was the third crucial win of their stretch that, in a win-or-go-home situation.
So game three arrives. Miami and Messi are back home in front of their home fans at Chase Stadium, and the expectation is that the world's greatest player will lead his team to the next round with an easy victory. And then … for the first time since May 29, Atlanta scored three goals in a game, pulling out a thrilling 3-2 upset over Miami.
That May 29 match, by the way? A 3-1 victory over, you guessed it, Inter Miami.
Hints of destiny, perhaps? You're feeling it, too, right?
Four wins, and a penalty shootout victory, in six matches to keep their playoff dreams alive, with all four of them against teams that appeared to boast more talent and a better regular season. That sense of belief you're feeling? It's how the are feeling right now, too.
Valentino certainly felt that, speaking after the game that closed out the series with Miami.
“I'd love to say something fancy, like I'm a tactical genius or something like that, but I'm not. I'm not, and that's not the way I coach,” said Valentino. “So just talking about, all along, internal belief, fighting and sticking together. We've made, obviously, little tweaks, and we've done certain things to try to win each game, and done something a little bit different every time.
"It's not going to be one player that's just going to carry us, and that's not an underlying tone to anybody else. It's just the fact – I tell this group that you have to do this together. You can't have passengers. So whatever shape you play, whatever tactics we give them, it's going to have to be everybody in it together. And you could see that they really believe that they can do something.”
AdvertisementIMGANNo room for bystanders
Valentino's comments about "no passengers" on their roster represents the approach of the Atlanta organization as a whole. One of the league's more recent expansion franchises in 2017, the have boasted one of the league's best front offices since their arrival, winning the 2018 MLS Cup and 2019 US Open Cup. To this day, Atlanta have the league's most expensive outgoing transfer in Paraguay international Miguel Almiron to Premier League side Newcastle United.
They have continuously gotten things right. Now, in 2024, in what was a genuinely woeful regular season, we've been reminded how patience is a virtue, and that when trusted and embraced, it can lead to something beautiful.
Part of the reason Atlanta struggled so much during the regular season was that they sold their three best players – literally. 2022 FIFA World Cup winner Thiago Almada joined Botafogo, U.S. international Caleb Wiley signed for Chelsea FC, and star striker and 2023 MLS Newcomer of the Year Giorgis Giakoumakis joined Cruz Azul in Liga MX. The three transfers brought the club in north of $50M in value, though – something they couldn't pass up.
Of course, replacements were brought in, such as 2024 Europa League winner Aleksey Miranchuk, who has settled in nicely. But the exact replication of their trio's performances on the pitch has yet to be seen. However, that might just be purposeful, and their departures may be the only reason Atlanta are in the position they are now. At least that's what club CEO and president Garth Lagerway suggested.
Speaking to 92.9 radio station, Lagerway admitted that the club were not going to "win any titles" with the team they had at the start of the season, and that they needed players who were "committed" to the vision of the club.
"Look, we were not going to win anything with that group," he said. "With the personalities in that locker room, and the mentality that we had, we were not going to win any titles. And we knew it. And, so, we wanted to maximize the resources that we could take out of that group, and that's when we moved on from some players… At the end of the day, we got in, we have a chance, and now we're taking advantage of it with a group that believes in itself and is much better put together.
"And that's a real credit to Rob Valentino and his staff and the players. We had some folks who weren't committed to being in Atlanta long term. It's as simple as that. And they were looking for their next move. And there's nothing wrong with that. That's part of pro sports. There's no emotion behind that. But they didn't want to be here long term, so we needed to get guys here who were committed."
IMGANTeam of destiny?
It was 31-year-old Senegalese striker Jamal Thiare, who didn't score for 12-straight games heading into Decision Day, who scored the winning strike to secure their postseason berth. In game one against Miami, he was shut down, and didn't factor much into the contest. In game two, it was a repeat; he wasn't performing. In game three, though, in another win-or-go-home situation, the former Le Havre forward scored twice, bagging a brace – his first since a March 31 victory over the Chicago Fire.
No superstar heroics, no consistent reliable force up top – just someone completely
“It took everyone’s special amount of running and giving everything that they got,” said Thiare after their victory. “Everyone’s held each other accountable, fighting when we're basically backs against the wall. We didn't want to finish the season like this, so it was good effort in training, but it was really something that the group discovered along the lines of the last few games. And something great is igniting from all of this.”
Yeah, there it is. Something really is igniting in the squad, something – dare we say, magical.
“The last couple of weeks, there's something special,” Guzan said after the match. “There's something special in the group, there's something special in the locker room. And what that thing is, is belief, is confidence, is desire to help the group. And when you have those things, the margins are fine, right?
“Obviously [Miami] have a very good team with very good individuals who are extremely talented – best player in the world. And so we don't have that. And so how do we make up the difference? We make that up with working for each other, and defending and doing hard running and tackling. When you do things like that, you're able to give yourself an opportunity."
And this circumstance doesn't happen without Guzan.
Getty Images SportBonnie Tyler sang it, Brad Guzan arrived
For those who recall the movie, think back to watching the 1984 film for the first time. Kevin Bacon hops up on that tractor and Bonnie Tyler's starts playing and you're instantly rooting for Bacon, and you want him to be the hero – and, inevitably, he was. For a younger crowd, throw it back to 2004 when Shrek and friends storm the castle in . Princess Fiona needed a hero, and the handsome version of our favorite Ogre saves the day – again, with playing in the background.
You've caught the vibe.
Every single time Guzan made a save during their Round One series against the , someone, somewhere, was thinking the same damn thing: this Atlanta United team needed a hero – desperately – and boy, did Guzan arrive to save the day.
In game three, he made nine saves, while Mami registered 12 shots on target with 28 total shots during the contest. Miami's expected goals (xG) was 4.1 – but they only found the back of the net twice. Across the four playoff matches this campaign he's made an astonishing 40-total saves. In knockout soccer, he's been lights-out.
"I think whenever your back is against the wall, you’ve got to rise to the occasion. You’ve got to try and put your best foot forward. And there is no tomorrow, as they say. It’s do or die. You’ve got to give everything, and you’ve got to try and turn up to make sure that you can get a result. And we’ve been in these situations in years previous, but there certainly seems to be a little bit something extra within the group. And sometimes you need that, that little bit of whatever that is," the goalkeeper told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
That little bit of "extra" isn't something he can quite figure out, but Guzan noted that "there’s a feeling among a group in terms of confidence, in terms of belief, and in a real positive focus. Winning helps. I think how we’ve won that helps even more because there’s excitement, there’s buzz, there’s obviously a lot of talk on the outside. So all those things, they add up together and when you put those things together, it certainly helps the feeling within, within the group."
