For at least one weekend, Mercedes-Benz Stadium will join the list of the world’s soccer cathedrals when at least 70,000 people are expected to watch Atlanta United host Orlando City on Saturday.
The attendance will set an MLS record and should rank among the top-five most-attended games in the weekend, depending upon the attendance at notable shrines such as Manchester United's Old Trafford, Bayern Munich's Allianz Area, Tottenham Hotspur's Wembley Stadium and Borussia Dortmund's Westfalensadion, which have capacities equal to or greater than Mercedes-Benz Stadium and will each host games this weekend.
Most of Atlanta United’s players have never competed in front of that many fans.
“It’s going to be a wonderful atmosphere,” Atlanta United midfielder Miguel Almiron said. “To do these things in our first year is great.”
Atlanta United has steamrolled its first two opponents in its first two games in its new home. It topped Dallas 3-0 and then blistered New England 7-0, matching the largest margin of victory in league history.
“Hopefully, we can fill this stadium and hopefully the team can give another great performance,” Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino said. “This is another step of all the great things that the club has done this year.”
The Five Stripes not only will be motivated by playing in front a crowd that will break the record of 69,255 set in 1996 at the Rose Bowl, but they are still fighting to move up the Eastern Conference standings.
The three points from Wednesday’s victory pushed the Five Stripes into fifth in the Eastern Conference with 42 points. They trail third-place Chicago by three points but have played two fewer games. Atlanta United leads seventh-place Montreal by six points, but has played one fewer game.
Martino said he's not worried about trying to catch NYCFC (50 points) for second place. The first goal is to qualify for the playoffs. He thinks his team needs nine more points to become one of the six teams in each conference that will qualify for the playoffs. Told that the website fivethirtyeight.com gives the team a 99 percent probability of making the playoffs, Martino said "it's not 100 percent."
As such, he said he’s not considering rotating the squad until the playoff spot is locked up. He said he doesn’t want to risk dropping any points.
The team will play without starting left fullback Greg Garza (hamstring) and centerback Leandro Gonzalez Pirez (yellow-card accumulation) for Saturday's game.
But Martino said the rest of the players look fresh for Saturday’s historic day.
“I think it’s a good pressure to have to play such an important game in front of so many fans here,” said striker Josef Martinez, who like Almiron noted he has never played before so many people. “Hopefully, things will go well and we can get three points for all our fans.”
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