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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:
#ATLUTD’s Starting XI vs @csherediano1921 pic.twitter.com/qOkUAhWR1l
— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) February 22, 2019
Herediano’s Lineup:
Así sale el @csherediano1921 ante @ATLUTD en la ida de los octavos de final de @TheChampions: @dcambro1, @05grana2 @o_arellano8, @JimmyMaOficial, Azofeifa, @aldomapa, Salazar, Díaz , Fuller , @JOrtiz9_ y @Keyner_Brown99 #SomosElTeam #SCCL2019 pic.twitter.com/TT1o9VoUwU
— Club Sport Herediano (@csherediano1921) February 22, 2019
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
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