Atlanta United will face a familiar foe in D.C. United to start off their Leagues Cup run at Mercedes Benz Stadium on Friday.
The Five Stripes are in Group East 7 with D.C. United and Santos Laguna. Atlanta has seen D.C. United twice in the regular season. The first meeting ended with a 3-2 loss at home on May 11 where Christian Benteke earned a hat trick, and Atlanta won their most recent meeting on June 19 with a 1-0 victory on the road.
“It’s going to be a tough game. They're a difficult team to play against because they really put the ball in your box as much as they can even from deep,” said defender Derrick Williams when asked about playing D.C. United again in Leagues Cup. “You have to really win your first and second balls and then from there you have to just play your own game and then hopefully come out on top.”
Atlanta is coming into their first match of the Leagues Cup on a high after a huge 2-1 win over the 2023 MLS Cup Champions in Columbus Crew at the Benz where Stian Gregersen earned his first brace in his professional career with Saba Lobjanidze assisting on both goals.
This is the second year for the full Leagues Cup competition with all 47 clubs from both MLS and LIGA MX competing to win the cup. The top three finishers in Leagues Cup will qualify for the Concacaf Champions Cup. The Final will take place on Sunday, August 25.
In the inaugural Leagues Cup, Atlanta didn’t make it out of the group stage. They lost to Inter Miami in their first match 4-0 and tied Cruz Azul 1-1, but lost in penalty kicks 5-4. In each match of Leagues Cup, if a match is tied at the end of regulation, both clubs will earn a point, but it will immediately go to penalty kicks to determine who earns an extra point. With the top two teams in each group qualifying for the knockout stage, that bonus point can be very important in the group standings.
The Leagues Cup kicks off Friday with 77 games being hosted throughout the US and Canada.
“We approach every game with the same mentality of winning the game and that's the outcome that we always want,” said Interim Head Coach Rob Valentino. “The outcome is the win that we always want, and now it's not three points, but it's how we can advance into this tournament. It's about building momentum now and keeping on the progression of the team.”
You can watch the match on Apple TV's MLS Season Pass or you can listen on 92.9 The Game with pregame coverage starting at 7:00 p.m. Kickoff is set for just after 8:00 p.m.
✍️: Madison Crews
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