MARIETTA, Ga. -- Atlanta United holds a four-point lead in the Supporters’ Shield race over Eastern Conference rivals New York Red Bulls, and with only four matches remaining in the season, the clash on Sunday (1 pm ET | ESPN - Full TV & Streaming Info) between these two teams at the top of the standings in MLS has become one that could prove decisive. And no one appears timid to say it.
“For me, it’s our most important game of the season, and it can define lots of things for us,” said Atlanta manager Gerardo "Tata" Martino through a translator Friday. “I don’t think [Red Bulls head coach Chris] Armas has changed much. I think they still play the same formation, the same pressing style and the same intensity.”
Atlanta’s star Argentine center back added that it’s not just the Supporters’ Shield that’s on the line.
“I agree with [Martino], that for the history of the club, it’s one of the most important games,” Leandro Gonzalez Pirez told reporters Friday. “It’s a big step for the Supporters’ Shield and for the Concacaf Champions League too. We have these two objectives and we’ll try to [achieve] them.”
Atlanta are set to clinch a Concacaf Champions League place with a win. President Darren Eales has made it a point of emphasis that Atlanta United wishes to compete on the biggest, most-visible stages possible and achieve things no other MLS club has accomplished. Champions League qualification would be the first step in that process.
Atlanta United captain Michael Parkhurst said that while the pressure of the game is on Red Bulls, the intensity will make it feel like a playoff battle.
“These Eastern Conference games down the stretch, and this one in particular, will absolutely feel like a playoff game,” Parkhurst told media this week. “[The Red Bulls] will know that if they lose the game, we’re very, very close to winning the shield. They’re still trying to secure a first-round bye, so it’s a big game, an important game, and it’s going to be fun.”
After Atlanta’s 2-0 win Saturday against Real Salt Lake, Martino admitted that even a point earned this weekend would be important for Atlanta, leaving them four points ahead with only three games remaining — two of which are at home for the Five Stripes. But despite this fact, Julian Gressel said Atlanta will still come out looking to play their usual style and hope to manage a result.
“We don’t have to be worried about going out and tying or losing the game in the first five or 10 minutes,” Gressel said Friday. “The reality is that they have to win the game in order to make it really tight again. Like Tata said, a tie is a pretty decent result for us because they’re eventually going to run out of games if they don’t win.”
