Inter Miami's quest for the Supporters' Shield title continues when it hits the road to take on Atlanta United.
Atlanta has had the Herons' number in the last two meetings, winning 3-1 at Chase Stadium in May and 5-2 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium last September. The heavy defeat last year was when Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba didn't travel with the squad to the match against Gerardo 'Tata' Martino's former team.
Now, one year removed from that dominant performance from Atlanta, the two teams are on opposite ends of the Eastern Conference table. Atlanta has struggled for most of the campaign, sitting in 10th place in the East with 31 points after the departures of star players Thiago Almada, Giorgos Giakoumakis and head coach Gonzalo Pineda.
Martino's team are on the cusp of lifting the second trophy in the team's history: a Supporters' Shield. Miami collected 62 points from 28 matches in the 2024 season with Messi and Luis Suárez leading the charge.
The match might not be as straightforward for Miami, however. Martino will be tasked with putting together a makeshift backline with Sergio Busquets and Tomás Avilés suspended due to yellow card accumulation while Noah Allen is in the concussion protocol. Fellow defender David Martínez suffered a groin injury in the 3-1 home victory over Philadelphia Union, adding to the defensive players on the treatment table.
Martino confirmed to the media Tuesday morning that both Messi and Suárez would travel for the match, but didn't specify how much the duo would play. Given that both players played the full 90 minutes in the win against the Union just a few days ago, it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see them come off the bench in the second half.
Given Miami's lack of available center-backs, Martino could opt for a change in formation to a 3-4-3 instead of a 4-2-3-1. This means veteran defender Serhiy Kryvtsov would likely start in the middle of the back three with the two center-backs on each side of him having less to worry about compared to a two center-back pairing.
