MARIETTA, Ga. — With the 2018 MLS Supporters’ Shield at stake, Atlanta United’s matchup against Toronto FC on Decision Day presented by AT&T (4:30 pm ET | TSN4 – full TV and streaming info) represents more than an opportunity to win a trophy. It represents history.
First, it’s MLS history. TFC finished last season on 69 points, setting a new record for points earned in a regular season. Less than a year later, Atlanta and the New York Red Bulls both have a chance to eclipse that mark in one of the most extraordinary battles for a Supporters’ Shield the league has seen.
In a scenario straight out of a Hollywood script, if ATLUTD are going to snatch the points record away from Toronto, they’re going to have to pry it straight from their cold, dead hands. Meanwhile the Red Bulls hope to exploit any slip by the leaders with a victory in their home match against Orlando City SC (4:30 pm ET | TV and streaming info).
“It's a final,” Atlanta’s Julian Gressel told reporters on Friday. “Who doesn't want to be in a final to win a trophy? That's what everybody plays for and that's what we wanted at the beginning of the year.”
While the Five Stripes’ and Red Bulls’ race is important in shaping the high-water mark for the rest of MLS, it’s also an important moment for the city of Atlanta, which has been starved of professional sporting success. And it’s a massive opportunity for United, in only their second year of existence, to win silverware and establish themselves as one of the league’s most successful members.
“Every time you have an opportunity to win a trophy, it's special,” said ATLUTD coach Tata Martino, who will depart the club in the offseason, via a translator on Friday. “In this case, it would be an opportunity to win the first trophy in the history of the club, and that'd be special as well. But I don't have any reason to believe Atlanta won't continue to be one of [the best teams] in the league and continue to have success in the future.”
Martino warned that despite their successes, Atlanta United are still in a fledgling phase as they learn “how to compete,” as Martino says, across multiple competitions. In that vein, Gressel said that this momentous occasion, win or lose, could help Atlanta learn how to avoid the pitfalls that plagued them in last year’s first-round Audi MLS Cup Playoffs loss to Columbus Crew SC.
“Obviously we wished to have clinched the Supporters' Shield a little earlier, but this is the way it is,” said Gressel. “It kind of prepares you for the playoffs a little bit as well. We'll go out there and play it as a final: 90 minutes for a trophy, that's all it comes down to.”
