Atlanta United vs. Inter Miami: Keys to Sunday Night Soccer

Big names, big money, big crowds, big ambitions. And a big, big upset still smoldering in the recent past.

Two of MLS’s glamour clubs cross swords at mighty Mercedes-Benz Stadium in this week’s edition of Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire (7 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+). It’s their first meeting since the monumental upset Atlanta United pulled off in Round One of last year’s Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, which derailed the Inter Miami CF juggernaut way sooner than anyone expected and left the Herons stewing all winter.

ATLUTD already look quite different from the plucky band of underdogs that shocked the world in November, with a new coach in Ronny Deila and two Designated Player signings from the English leagues who reportedly cost north of $32 million in combined transfer fees: Miguel Almirón and Emmanuel Latte Lath. Because “plucky underdogs” is not really how the Five Stripes prefer to operate.

Meanwhile Miami are juggling league play with their Concacaf Champions Cup run, which took them down to Kingston, Jamaica this week for a Round-of-16 second-leg visit to Cavalier FC. Leo Messi made that trip after sitting out the Herons’ previous three games with what’s been rather obliquely termed ‘load management’ rather than an actual injury per se. So everyone, including and especially what’s expected to be a massive crowd at MBS, will watch and wait to see if he takes the pitch in Atlanta.

Players in focus

Atlanta United

The most expensive signing in MLS history, Latte Lath has looked the part so far – strong, pacey, clever – scoring twice in his ATL debut on opening day as the Five Stripes outgunned CF Montréal 3-2. He picked up a knock in last weekend’s scoreless home draw with the New York Red Bulls and subsequently entered concussion protocol, however, leaving his status questionable for Sunday. With Jamal Thiaré having missed time with a quadriceps injury, winger Edwin Mosquera might have to deputize as a No. 9, unless Deila gets even more creative.
Almirón’s return to the A is already one of the feel-good stories of the season, a homecoming for a beloved maestro who epitomized the joyous, high-octane style of ATLUTD’s early years when he starred for them in 2017 and ‘18 before his move to Newcastle United. The all-action lefty may need to be even more assertive on the ball if Latte Lath is out for this one.
Even on their worst days and even without Messi, Miami create at least a few high-quality scoring chances. That dials up the pressure on ATL center backs Stian Gregersen and Derrick Williams to keep things organized and mistake-free in the back. They’ll take confidence from what they achieved along those lines in last year’s playoffs, where veteran goalkeeper Brad Guzan was also massive.

Inter Miami CF

Is Messi in or out? That’s been an inescapable question since the GOAT touched down in South Florida a year and a half ago, because of his massive global starpower and IMCF’s responsibility to manage his 37-year-old legs as judiciously as possible over the marathon that is the MLS calendar. With the Herons understandably prioritizing CCC, that’s more important than ever. Yet we can imagine Messi would be rather motivated to take on the team that cut short his inaugural MLS Cup Playoffs run so sensationally.
To Miami’s credit, they’ve become quite adept at managing without their Argentine icon, starting the year undefeated despite him not playing a match since a Feb. 25 ConcaChampions win over Sporting KC. Credit must go to the savvy guidance of Luis Suárez and Sergio Busquets, whose soccer IQ remains sky-high and provides a high floor for IMCF week in and week out, aided by the willing young legs of Benja Cremaschi, Yannick Bright, Telasco Segovia, et al.
Defensive hiccups and poor decision-making have also been a constant issue for the Herons, with untimely backline breakdowns and a steady stream of red cards since the start of 2024 – as Atlanta opportunistically exposed in the playoffs. Goalkeeper Oscar Ustari is the latest culprit; he’ll sit this one out due to a DOGSO red card against Charlotte last week. Nominal starter Drake Callender has yet to appear this season due to an adductor issue, although he was reportedly left off the traveling party for Jamaica with an eye towards being ready for Atlanta and could step in for Rocco Ríos Novo.

What's at stake for Atlanta United?

For a club who built their name on being the greatest show on MLS turf long before the FC Barcelona boys landed at IMCF, this fixture is a litmus test, even with it only being March. Can the new-look Five Stripes face off against established members of the league’s elite and keep pace? Everything they did over the winter has been crafted with that in mind.

So it’s unfortunate that they might be without Latte Lath, the spearhead of that revamped attack, for this occasion. Still, there’s ample quality for Deila to call upon, and Almirón of all people will recognize what a prominent stage this match can provide for the Five Stripes’ rebuild.

After that bright start to the season, Atlanta’s attack went quiet in the two games since, with zero goals across an error-strewn loss at Charlotte FC and a frustrating goalless draw vs. RBNY. Deila has preached patience and repetition as he installs his game model, which centers on methodical possession while also prioritizing verticality. But if connections are missed and wires crossed for a third straight week, the 17s who pack MBS may start to feel a twitch of impatience.

What's at stake for Inter Miami CF?

First-year head coach Javier Mascherano’s answer to that question is likely to be a pragmatic one, focused on managing minutes and avoiding injuries amid the congested schedule and regional travel of ConcaChampions.

If the Herons hold serve and advance past Cavalier, they’ll get a couple of weeks off from the continental grind before meeting LAFC in the quarterfinals next month, which will allow them to direct full attention to domestic play, though legs and minds may still feel the mileage on Sunday. These are just the sort of situations in which their brigade of fresh-faced kids – about half of IMCF’s squad are age 23 or younger – have helped them enormously.

All that said, the answer you’d get from Messi, Suárez & Co. might be a different one. Miami’s Fab Four are famously, ferociously competitive and probably hold a grudge or two from last year’s struggles against ATLUTD, who also took four of six points off them in their two league meetings. (Witness the 6-2 beating they handed out to RBNY last May, a few weeks after the Red Bulls ambushed them to the tune of 4-0 a few weeks beforehand.)

So if the Herons did want to send a cautionary message to the rest of the league… dispatching an ascendant Eastern Conference adversary on their own pitch in front of a massive crowd and a primetime broadcast audience might just be the place they’d look to do so.

On Wiebe's radar

Atlanta: When will we see Alexey Miranchuk’s best?

The standard ought to be high for a 10-figure Designated Player No. 10. Miranchuk’s numbers so far – and yes, the game is more than goals, assists, xG and xA – are… disappointing.

The Russian is a passer. That’s his path to chance creation. Passers need runners and organization both behind and in front of them. It’s early in the Ronny Deila days, but one of the biggest priorities has to be getting Miranchuk’s chance creation engine purring.

Miami: Is Tadeo Allende a Best XI-quality attacker?

Inter Miami have, repeatedly, unearthed gems across every tier of their salary budget, and Allende looks like another brilliant find who both seamlessly connects with the Barça contingent and brings tremendous quality of his own.

Two goals in 154 minutes. Both of the highest possible quality. Is this a blip, or a sign of consistent game-breaking play to come?

Atlanta United must pay close attention to Messi (maybe/probably), Suárez, Alba, Segovia and Allende. That’s a tough numbers game when the Argentine on loan from Celta de Vigo is routinely making the spectacular look easy.

Tactical breakdown

Atlanta United

Even if Latte Lath sits, the Five Stripes possess a wealth of creative, aggressive options for their front four with Almirón, Miranchuk, Saba Lobjanidze, Xande Silva and others. So why have the goals been so hard to come by (And their expected goals have been better, but only modestly so: 1.0 vs CLT FC, 1.8 vs RBNY)?

That topic has been explored by many among ATL’s press pack, which is one of the biggest and most committed in MLS. Henry Higuita Jr. sifted through the game tape to pen a smart analysis over at Scarves and Spikes, cataloguing the mislaid runs and misunderstandings that have kept Atlanta from throttling up the tempo and creating consistent danger across the 90 minutes.

Spacing issues, lack of chemistry, impatience leading to hero balls that become wasteful turnovers – there’s a list of interwoven issues here rather than a single smoking gun. And really, none of it is a huge surprise considering the limited time this group has had together to hone their collective patterns of play, and the fine balance between buildup and boldness Deila wants them to develop.

There is one area where the coaching staff should be able to impose some clarity sooner rather than later. Miranchuk and Almirón are both cerebral left-footed playmakers, and that overlap in their outlook has led to them drifting into similar positions and gumming up the works. Get those two on the same page, but not the same spaces – complementary rather than clashing – and give them some willing runners to play into space, and the pitch should open up.

Another one to watch: Left back Pedro Amador tormented Miami last fall with incisive passing on his jaunts forward into the final third, and after missing months to a hamstring injury, he went the full 90 last week. He might well be an X factor on Sunday.

Inter Miami CF

Our very own Armchair Analyst Matt Doyle has written about how Mascherano has seemingly raised the Herons’ ceiling this year with an evolution of their style under his predecessor Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino.

While they remain a possession-oriented outfit, Miami have strategically deployed the likes of Bright and Cremaschi to go hunt for turnovers and transition moments, providing a different sort of danger against the ball and amplifying the opportunities for Suárez, Messi and Alba to knit those deadly passing combinations in and around the opponents’ penalty box.

Like last year, however, they remain a very difficult proposition in the proverbial tactics-free zone because their veterans think at least one step faster than everyone else on the pitch, particularly in high-leverage moments. The speed and composure with which Suárez and Allende eviscerated Charlotte’s back four for the game-winner right off the second-half kickoff last weekend, for example:

They did that while playing with 10 men, by the way. This is the latest among many examples of IMCF dealing themselves a self-inflicted wound (card-happy young center back Toto Avilés has been the worst, but not the only, culprit) and getting away with it, thanks to the brilliance of the Barça boys and their younger teammates being such quick studies.

For more than a year we’ve been waiting for their adversaries to punish those mistakes with any sort of regularity, and really, ATLUTD’s ‘24 playoff heroics were one of the few times it’s actually happened. At this point, we’ve got to give more credit to the spine provided by Suárez, Busquets and Bright and unsung role players like homegrowns Noah Allen and Ian Fray for keeping it all on course.

Bright, in particular, has been an absolute DAWG in the engine room – his ballhawking helped drive CLTFC into the infamous ‘horseshoe of sadness’ last week, as revealed by the pass maps from the excellent MLS Analytics on Bluesky.