The champs are finally back. Atlanta United returns to competitive action tonight to kickoff their first-ever Concacaf Champions League journey. Herediano of Costa Rica is 2019’s first test. They qualified for this tournament by winning the 2018 Concacaf League, a tournament for Central American and Caribbean teams in the region. Atlanta United qualified via the specially implemented combined regular season points (2017 and 2018) in MLS mechanic. Even if they hadn’t gotten passage through that, winning MLS Cup would’ve certainly done it. Of course, this is also the first real challenge in a new era. Tata Martino is gone. Frank de Boer is in charge now and he brings a new style of play with him. The big thing everyone will be watching for in this tie is how quickly the new 3-4-3 possession based style will translate to Concacaf. Let’s also not forget that the team has only been with a new manager for around 2 months. That’s not a lot of time to adopt a new system. Herediano sit ninth (out of 12 teams) in their domestic table, accumulating only 11 points through eight matches played. This will by no means be an easy tie to win, especially with it being so early in the season. Can the Five Stripes knock off the rust and get up to speed? Or will the Costa Rican side send Atlanta packing in their first attempt to be top dogs in Concacaf? Atlanta United’s Lineup: Herediano’s Lineup: How to Watch Venue: Estadio Eladio Rosabal Cordero Advertised Kickoff Time: 10:00 p.m. ET Available TV: Univision Deportes Available Streaming: fubo TV (free trial), YahooSports.com Available Radio: 92.9 The Game This thread will be your match thread. We don’t have many rules here. We just ask that you don’t insult each other personally and treat each other with respect. Debates can get heated and that’s fine, but name-calling and petty insults will get you banned. If you see a comment that you feel is out of line, please report it and it will be dealt with.<doc-sep>In Atlanta United’s first CONCACAF Champions League game in club history and the first game of Frank de Boer’s tenure, things went very, very poorly. The Five Stripes were overrun by C.S. Herediano in a 3-1, first-leg loss. The things that happened in the game that was played It did not start well. #Herediano take the early 1-0 lead against #ATLUTD. Horrific mistake on the back header by González Pirez, and Guillermo Ortíz did well to lift his finish over Guzan. #CSHvATL #CCL #SCCL2019 pic.twitter.com/iSlhiV4opv — Joga Bonito USA (@Jasoninho10) February 22, 2019 It did not immediately get better. Where was the #ATLUTD defense?!? ! Gaping hole big enough for a train, and #Herediano went straight down the middle for an easy second goal.#CSHvATL #CCL #SCCL2019 pic.twitter.com/NnFPx6gmWH — Joga Bonito USA (@Jasoninho10) February 22, 2019 Atlanta United spent the entirety of the first half looking, quite frankly, discombobulated AF. The Five/Nine Stripes gifted Herediano the opening two goals of the tie and then literally couldn’t get out of their own damn way. And now #ATLUTD have a goal disallowed for offside. Bizarre situation with Larentowicz and LGP getting in each other's way. Comedy of errors by ATL at both ends of the pitch.#CSHvATL #CCL #SCCL2019 pic.twitter.com/tZGUpKxZzu — Joga Bonito USA (@Jasoninho10) February 22, 2019 Fortunately, a little luck by way of a deflected Julian Gressel shot kept things close heading into the break. #ATLUTD pull one back! Good buildup through Barco and Pity, and Gressel's shot takes a huge deflection for a valuable away goal.#CSHvATL #CCL #SCCL2019 pic.twitter.com/zrzCgXiP9C — Joga Bonito USA (@Jasoninho10) February 22, 2019 To keep more in theme with the night, Gressel would make up for that accidental lapse of success in the 50th minute. It was Gressel who lost his man at the back post, allowing Granados to finish Azofeifa's quality service off the free kick.#CSHvATL #Herediano #ATLUTD #SCCL2019 pic.twitter.com/sRyDOisWEI — Joga Bonito USA (@Jasoninho10) February 22, 2019 Both teams scraped together a few chances the rest of the way, but neither could find the back of the net. A Recap Thought: “Growing Pains” but in Dutch There are better tacticians at DSS who will absolutely put out more insightful content on this later in the week (I see you Josh Bagriansky) but you don’t have to have written a dissertation on “Inverting the Pyramid” to recognize that everything was ugly. The back line looked out of sorts, the front three kept ramming head first into the teeth of the Herediano defense, and I am genuinely unsure anyone not named Julian Gressel played 4 part of the 3-4-3. Tiotal Football summed it up well. the bad games are the ones where you feel like it's 2v4 in attack and 3v3 in defense but you also cant keep the ball. — TiotaalVoetbal (@TiotalFootball) February 22, 2019 We have a saying at DSS: “Soccer is hard.” The hardness is compounded when you’re trying to implement new ideas in a new system while plugging in new players. It’s going to be a while before everyone looks comfortable (except for Frank de Boer, who constantly looks like he’s seeing the physical representation of imminent death in front of him, and who, consequently, will never look comfortable) under FdB. It’s obviously early. It’s obviously a major challenge to go to Costa Rica and get CONCACAF’d. Things obviously didn’t start well last year and we saw how that ended up. All these things are obvious, but they’re still good to hear. Don’t panic. But do keep an eye on a few of the uglier trends we saw tonight and pray they get better. Soccer is hard. The growing pains will be real. DSS Man of the Match Idk. Gressel scored. I guess him. Larentowicz Man of the Match - (Your unsung hero(es)) These dudes dutifully carrying off Herediano player after Herediano player on stretchers and miraculously bringing them back to life on the sideline. Tweet of the Night #ATLUTD gets the ball and everyone just stands around. — Doug Roberson (@DougRobersonAJC) February 22, 2019 What’s Next? Atlanta United at least takes an away goal to Fifth/Third Bank Stadium next Thursday. A 2-0 win gets the job done. There are also a whole bunch of negative outcomes that are easier to explain in chart form. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. in Kennesaw.<doc-sep>
Atlanta United come back to Georgia facing a tall task against Herediano in the Concacaf Champions League Round of 16. The first leg didn’t go their way and now the Five Stripes must overcome a 3-1 deficit and do so at a venue that is not their regular home. With the Monster Jam Truck Show Series Extravaganza making Mercedes-Benz Stadium unusable for this match, Atlanta United are forced to Kennesaw’s Fifth Third Bank Stadium. While it is a place they’ve played a few matches at, there’s no doubt that it doesn’t hold the same home-field advantages as The Benz. Nevertheless, Frank de Boer’s side will be hoping to rebound from a poor performance in Costa Rica. The 3-4-3 system was ripped apart defensively and left some to be desired in the attacking end. Franco Escobar and Kevin Kratz remain sidelined with injury and George Bello is a doubt after picking up a knock and missing training on Wednesday. Can some home cooking be the remedy for this new style of play? If it’s not it will be the end of the road for Atlanta in the CCL. Atlanta United’s Lineup: Herediano’s Lineup: How to Watch Venue: Fifth Third Bank Stadium Advertised Kickoff Time: 8:00 p.m. ET Available TV: Univision Deportes Available Streaming: fubo TV (free trial), YahooSports.com Available Radio: 92.9 The Game This thread will be your match thread. We don’t have many rules here. We just ask that you don’t insult each other personally and treat each other with respect. Debates can get heated and that’s fine, but name-calling and petty insults will get you banned. If you see a comment that you feel is out of line, please report it and it will be dealt with.