Atlanta United loses to Club America 3-1 on aggregate, knocked out of the CONCACAF Champions League

After nine (!) months since the first quarterfinal Concacaf Champions League leg between Atlanta United and Club América, the two sides stepped onto the same field and finished the tie. Atlanta, having gone down by three goals in the first leg back in March (yes, that was this year), was always going to have a mountain to climb in this second leg. After the year this team had, it’s fair to say Atlanta United was not expected to move on to the next round. Let’s get into it.

Lineups

Eric Lopez finally made an appearance for the first team!

Highlights

Atlanta created a handful of chances in the opening 25 minutes. Escobar had a decent chance that you can watch in GIF form.

Atlanta’s most impressive chance came through some intelligent link up play between Barco and debutante Erik Lopez, but America keeper Ochoa made a strong save to maintain Club America’s 3-0 aggregate lead.

The second half was pretty tame until the 68th minute when all hell broke loose.

Anyway.

Jack Gurr, who signed a short-term contract with the first team, made his debut when he came on for Erik Lopez in the 75th minute. Congratulations!

Jackson Conway, who recently signed a first team contract, made his first team debut after a solid year with the USL team. Congratulations!

Minutes after writing that ^, Jackson Conway headed home George Bello’s cross to give Atlanta United fans something to cheer about. A goal made in Atlanta!

Chills.

The game was winding down until Moreno earned himself a red in the last few minutes of the match. Not great, Bob.

Takeaways

• I think it’s fair to say nobody was expecting Atlanta to perform like that. Atlanta’s last match was five weeks ago against the newly crowned MLS Cup champions, and to somehow pull out a performance like that deserves some plaudits. The goals were lacking until Conway’s late goal, but it was a surprising performance nonetheless (Please note this only applies to the first half).
• Erik Lopez impressed me on his debut. At only 18 years old and with the all but confirmed arrival of Gabriel Heinze, it’ll be exciting to see what the young Paraguayan can bring to the team over the next few years.
• That Jackson Conway/George Bello combination for Atlanta’s goal was pretty special.
• This season is over. Rejoice!

Injury Report

• Barco exited the game around the 60th minute after seemingly picking up a knock.

Tweet of the Match

What’s Next?

That’s a wrap on the 2020 season! Thanks for sticking with Dirty South Soccer during what has been a less than ideal season. Make sure to keep checking out the site as more details regarding the managerial situation are revealed, etc. etc. Mouths of the South will be back tomorrow. I'm sure Five Stripe Final will be releasing stuff as well. See you next season, whenever that may be.