Messi, Miami suffer biggest shock in MLS postseason history

Have you ever had a nightmare that seemed so real that it took every fiber of your being to wriggle back to consciousness, then the relief that it was just a dream washes over you? So imagine what MLS Commissioner Don Garber and the folks at MLS HQ are going through right now. Except in their case, there’s no waking up from their worst-case MLS Cup playoff scenario.

Inter Miami and its band of stars – included Lionel Messi — was eliminated from the postseason by Atlanta United, 3-2; their chance for a Supporters Shield and MLS Cup double was dashed by a heroic effort on all fronts from the Five Stripes.

In December, there will be no opportunity to party in South Beach, Miami Beach or even Ft. Lauderdale Beach. The chance of attracting celebrities to the league’s signature event is greatly diminished now that the chances of Messi gracing the event are nil (though if Los Angeles ends up hosting the final, that will ease the sting a bit). And more importantly, viewership for the rest of the playoffs on Apple TV is sure to take a massive hit given the crater-like hole Miami’s elimination has created.

When asked what Miami’s locker room was like after the game, manager Tata Martino said, “Sad … as you should be when there are so many expectations and the team can’t meet them. In this last part of the year, we get used to to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves and we have not been able to achieve the most important thing.”

But credit goes to Atlanta. The Five Stripes deserved their victory and were in no way intimidated by their opponents. They are now playing with a truckload of house money.

How big of an “MLSCupset” was this? The fact that the Supporters Shield winners were stripped is not that unusual in the MLS postseason. Only four teams in the last 20 years have managed to pull off a Shield/MLS Cup double. Riots are also common. The Eastern Conference bracket has been blown wide open this year, with the second-seeded Columbus Crew and third-seeded FC Cincinnati also eliminated.

That said, Atlanta’s triumph is easily the biggest upset in MLS postseason history. The Five Stripes transferred two of its biggest stars — Thiago Almada and Giorgos Giakoumakis — mid-season. Then they barely made the playoffs on the final day of the regular season thanks to a 2-1 road win over Orlando – the opponent in the next round – combined with the Philadelphia Union and DC United both losing. That allowed Atlanta to finish ninth in the 15-team Eastern Conference and a whopping 34 points behind Messi’s side. Then Atlanta had to survive a penalty shootout in the play-in round against CF Montreal. They had almost no chance to get past Miami, with its stars and home court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Everything seemed to go according to plan in Game 1 as Miami won 2-1 at home. But Atlanta’s 2-1 win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, courtesy of a late winner from Xande Silvakept them alive and then they finished the job in Ft. Lauderdale thanks to a couple of goals from Jamal Thiaresome fantastic goalkeeping from Brad Guzan and a winner in the 76th minute from Bartosz Slisz.

All of this was accomplished under the direction of interim manager Rob Valentino, who in postgame interviews projected a vibe reminiscent of a young Bob Bradley, complete with steely face and bald head. If Atlanta goes in a different direction for its regular manager, Valentino should make sure his phone is on and fully charged. Given the way he revived Atlanta’s season, some teams are bound to take interest.

As for Saturday’s festivities, how exactly did Atlanta get this done?

“Grinding, faith, resilience. I don’t know,” Guzan told Apple TV. “There’s some fairy dust in our locker room, man. And I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”

Valentino added: “You can see the emotion in the players. We have the ownership there, all of us. There have been some tough times at the club and I’m glad everyone is getting a little bit of joy. But I hope we” are not done now.”

Miami is done and in some respects has only itself to blame. The team’s defense was suspect all season; only once in the last 20 years had a Supporters Shield winner conceded more goals than the 49 goals conceded by the Herons. (It was Seattle’s 50 back in 2014).

But Miami was usually able to bury teams with an avalanche of creativity, led by the likes of Messi and Luis Suarez. Not this time though Matías Rojas put Miami ahead in the 17th minute as Thiaré put Atlanta on top with a pair of goals in a span of two minutes, and Miami knew it had a game on its hands.

There also seemed to be something deeper at work. After claiming an MLS record 74 points in the regular season, the Herons seemed to have a hard time wrapping their collective heads around the fact that this in itself was not enough to be crowned league champions. Instead, it had to go through the hard hitting of a postseason. Intuitive for someone from Europe? No. But in MLS, it’s reality. Miami seemed unable to accept this.

“This format seems a little unfair to me,” Miami defends Jordi Alba said. “Obviously it’s been done this way for many years, but if you ask me, I think if it was up to me, I’d want it to be champion of one conference against champion of that second, that it be as fair as possible.”

On the pitch, Miami’s composure began to fray, with Suarez up to his old dark arts. Even as Messi leveled the game at 2-2 with a header in the 65th minute, Leo Campana pushed goalkeeper Guzan into his own net in the aftermath. Miami played on the edge, but Atlanta had no qualms about engaging in a street fight.

The capper came on Slisz’s game winner. With Miami defender Tomás Avilés down with an apparent injury, the rest of the Miami players shut down, thinking Atlanta or the referee would stop the game. – Martino said afterward that Miami had done just that during Game 2 in Atlanta – but the kind of professional courtesy that was once commonplace simply cannot be taken for granted these days. The old adage about playing the flute was ignored. Atlanta pressed on, as is their right, and with Miami’s defenders half-asleep, Slisz’s thumping header from Pedro Amador’s cross was easily beaten. Drake Callender.

What bordered on ironic overload was the fact that two of the key architects of Atlanta’s victory were a couple of lunchbox guys, longtime MLS veterans in the midfield Dax McCarty and Guzan. McCarty, who recently announced his intention to retire at the end of this season, assisted on both of Thiaré’s goals and ran the show in midfield until fatigue set in in the 60th minute. In fact, Atlanta looked a little shaky in the minutes after he left the game. Guzan made seven saves, some of the spectacular variety that drove Suarez crazy. It’s a reminder that for all the star power that Messi and Suarez have brought to the league, winning an MLS Cup still requires some local knowledge.

Afterwards, Guzan hugged everyone in sight; McCarty settled for her two children. Martino and the Miami players were left to rue a missed opportunity.

“The comparison of the last game last season, back in October, with today’s third game in the play-offs and this bitterness that we all have about not having passed, it is clear that the goals of the club have changed and I think there’s no reason why the club shouldn’t continue to try next year,” the Miami manager said. “What happened this year, the bad and the good in general has been better than anything that happened last year and I would say even from the beginning that the club has.”

That’s a generous read of the situation considering how Miami fell short in the face of high expectations. There is also something else to think about: Messi has only one year left on his contract. While he could always extend his deal, the clock is ticking not only on Messi’s time in South Florida, but on the league’s ability to capitalize on his presence.

Meanwhile, Atlanta’s championship dreams are still very much alive.