HANOVER, N.J. — It’s a rivalry that has grown organically between the New York Red Bulls and Atlanta United, but one that had its spark from the first meeting two years ago.
“You can tell in that game that this this was going to be a huge rivalry between us and them,” Red Bulls fullback Kemar Lawrence said after training Friday.
Helping fuel it along the way was a Supporters’ Shield chase a year ago, with the Red Bulls bypassing then leaders Atlanta United at the finish line, and an Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs series, where the Five Stripes got their revenge en route to winning the MLS Cup title in December.
“You can see both teams don't really even like each other really and truly,” Lawrence said. “They knocked us out last year, and I don't feel that anybody has let that go. I always want to beat them, especially them.”
Lawrence was at the center of late, and post-game fireworks at Red Bull Arena after the 10-man Red Bulls defeated Atlanta, 1-0, in May. Lawrence and Atlanta winger Hector Villalba went chest-to-chest, exchanging hand gestures — Lawrence rocked his arms to call Villalba a baby and Villalba, in turn, raised a trophy over his head.
Neither side backed down in the aftermath from their respective locker rooms, with Villalba complaining about Lawrence’s late challenge and his Atlanta teammates upset that Lawrence stood over the Paraguayan and screamed at him.
Lawrence fully expects to be public enemy No. 1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday (2 pm ET | FOX, MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada) when the teams meet again and the Jamaica international is embracing it.
“If you check my Instagram and my DMs, [Atlanta fans] are already sending me a couple of stuff,” a laughing Lawrence said after training Friday. “It's all fun though, because at the end of the day, the fans love the game and they love their player. A lot of the booing and anything like that, they mean nothing by it. It’s just about them defending their team and that only gets me fired up. So I'll be ready.”
“When people boo you, it just makes you want to play better,” Lawrence added.
Red Bulls winger Danny Royer expects the animosity to continue Sunday.
“I would not be surprised if that would also continue like that,” he said. “Nobody wants to give away anything, and there's always a lot of fight in this game. So we definitely expect a tough matchup and we'll be ready for the challenge.”
And if the expression “styles make fights” is true, that’s also what makes this rivalry fun. Under Frank de Boer, and previously Tata Martino, Atlanta have preferred building out of the back, while the Red Bulls' ethos is about pressing and counter-pressing. While Martino famously changed tactics to play more direct in the Eastern Conference Championship win, De Boer kept his tactics the same in the first meeting between the clubs this year.
“I think that they're really proud of the way they play, so I think they will keep trying to play and it's just the way they are,” Royer said. “And we are exactly the opposite way. We’re going to press them, forecheck and counter-press. That’s our style of play. Atlanta is the opposite. … I think they also want to prove their style is better than ours, but yeah, we think differently.”
