Atlanta United’s Josef Martinez on Tuesday said that the team needs to play the second leg of its CONCACAF Champions League game against Herediano at Mercedes-Benz Stadium instead of Kennesaw State.
Atlanta United lost the first leg 3-1 in Costa Rica and needs to win on Thursday by at least 2-0 to advance to the quarterfinals, or 3-1 to force penalty kicks.
“I don’t want to lie because I’m not good at math or statistics but I think when we play at home we win 90 percent of our games,” he said. “We play at Mercedes-Benz stadium, not Kennesaw. So we are not ready. We have to play at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.”
The game couldn’t be scheduled in the $1.5 billion stadium because the venue was years-ago contractually obligated to host legacy events that were part of the stadium construction agreement. The monster truck race that was held last weekend and the motorcross race that will be held this weekend are two of several legacy events that are part of that construction agreement that pre-dates most of Atlanta United’s history.
The team explained the process used to select a temporary venue in December 2018.
Atlanta United is 22-5-7 at home in regular-season league play since 2017. The team has scored at least two goals at home, which includes its first nine games at Bobby Dodd Stadium in 2017, 21 times.
Atlanta United is 2-0 at Kennesaw State, which was the site for U.S. Open Cup games in 2017 and 2018. Both games were against Charleston of the USL.
“It is what is it is for me,” Atlanta United’s Julian Gressel said. “We want to advance. That stands above all. It doesn’t matter where the game is. Would have been nice to have it in the Benz and have that factor for us, but Kennesaw has been good to us the last few times we’ve played there.
“Why not do that a third time?”
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