Ronny Deila faces immediate golden opportunity with Atlanta United in 2025

If there’s one thing Ronny Deila wants to accomplish as Atlanta United’s head coach, it’s guiding his players toward making Mercedes-Benz Stadium a difficult place for opponents.

“We should make our home games to be like a castle,” he told Atlanta’s Joe Freihofer in an interview. “Nobody should come there and dictate anything. That should be our home and it’s going to be a tough place to come.”

It’s clear that the Benz hasn’t been the “castle” it was in the early stages of the club’s history: it won 6 games there in 2024, its fewest home wins in a season outside of the 2020 COVID year.

But If Deila and Atlanta want to take a step back in the right direction, they’ll have a chance to do so immediately: six of Atlanta’s first eight matches in 2025 are on home soil. It starts with CF Montréal on February 22, but the highlight will undoubtedly be March 16 against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, one of a slate of Sunday matches that will get the big game treatment from MLS Season Pass. (A March 29 contest against NYCFC, Deila’s former team, will be in the mix as well.)

And winning those home matches is important thanks to a grueling six-game away stretch with the Benz unavailable due to the Club World Cup. After visiting the New York Red Bulls on May 31, Atlanta head up to face NYCFC before stops at Columbus, Miami, D.C., and Toronto. Sure, there’s the old adage about soccer and it being difficult (not impossible!) to win away from home, but for whatever reason, it’s been more of a struggle for Atlanta, who have finished with 6 or more away victories just twice in its history. The last thing it needs to be doing in the summer is chasing points that it should have picked up earlier in the spring.

That’s not to say that Atlanta need to go 17-0-0 at the Benz. But the difference between a top 4 finish in the East and finishing mid table or, worse, out of the playoff picture altogether, could come down to what happens in its own backyard.

And playing winning football at home will go a long way toward endearing Deila to a fanbase hungry for trophies.

“In my opinion, (Mercedes-Benz) is one of the nicest in the world,” he said. “I know I’ve seen a lot of stadiums in my life, but when I (go) in there, it’s like, wow, what a stadium.

“Not only in the U.S, it’s special in the world when you can put together so many supporters in a club and see that foundation at the bottom … That is a big opportunity to build something huge here.”