Fans of Atlanta United and the Montreal Impact unfurled the most prominent tifo in MLS over the weekend, one taunting their regional rivals and the other sending a message to their club.
Down in Atlanta, the 70,425 who packed into Mercedes-Benz Stadium not only set the league’s all-time single-game attendance record and witnessed a wild 3-3 draw with Orlando City highlighted by Josef Martinez’s second hat trick of the week. They also got to soak in a “Stranger Things”-themed tifo from the Faction, Footie Mob, Resurgence and Terminus Legion supporters groups.
The massive tifo taunted Atlanta’s budding rivals to the south with an up/down split based on the two teams’ respective places in the Eastern Conference standings, with ATL chasing a playoff spot while Orlando are stuck in the lower reaches of the table, forced to look ahead to 2018.
Up in Montreal, the scale was a bit less grandiose at Stade Saputo, but the message was every bit as pointed from 1642 MTL and the rest of the Impact ultras ahead of their team’s disastrous 3-2 loss to Minnesota.
Frustrated by IMFC’s sudden slump after a four-game winning streak appeared to be propelling them towards the MLS Cup Playoffs, the home faithful unfurled a banner reading “C'est dans le moments plus difficiles ou'on reconnait les vrais” (“It is in the most difficult moments when one recognizes the real ones”).
Perhaps that sentiment played a role in IMFC owner and president Joey Saputo releasing a frank public statement in the wake of Saturday’s loss.
