The first match of Atlanta United’s 2025 Leagues Cup run went… probably how you’d imagine it going. Sure, Necaxa scored first on one of the goofier goals Atlanta has given up this year, but Alexey Miranchuk still tied it in an overall aggressive, not terrible half of soccer.
Atlanta also survived the first fifteen minutes of the second half, a stretch notorious for this team giving up goals, but then caved towards the end instead, ultimately dropping to a 3-1 defeat in their own sparsely filled stadium. Gutting, heartbreaking, yet not exactly surprising. The quest for a first Leagues Cup win continues.
Now, the Five Stripes travel to Orlando tonight to face designated host side and “Tier One” opponent Pumas for the second of three matches as part of a doubleheader following the Orlando City-Atlas match. With that game starting at 7:30, Atlanta and Pumas are pushed back to the 9:00 PM Eastern slot. I wonder how many Orlando fans will stick around for the hate watch? I probably would.
Pumas aren’t off to the best start in Liga MX, losing two and winning one to place them in 15th of 18 through three matches. The club finished midtable in the previous season’s Clausura tournament, and made the Round of 16 in last year’s Leagues Cup. They’ll have a familiar face to any soccer fan in goal with Keylor Navas, the highly decorated Costa Rican keeper who recently joined the Mexican side just over a week ago.
Meanwhile, Atlanta will be without the services of Pedro Amador, who is listed as out with a hamstring injury. This could mean the return of Brooks Lennon to the starting lineup, although Ronny Deila could opt for something different.
In case you missed it, this year’s edition of the Leagues Cup will work a bit differently, as you can see more about here. Essentially, all games in Phase One will feature interleague matchups, three per team, before the top four teams from each league compete in a single elimination Phase Two, starting from the quarterfinals. Atlanta is currently down in 15th of the 18 MLS sides in the competition, meaning they’ll most likely need to win out in their last two matches and hope for the best for any chance at reaching the knockouts.
Will Atlanta pull off a shocking upset on the road, or will it only be more of the same from this side? We’ll find out tonight in Orlando, with kickoff advertised for 9:00 PM ET. Streaming can be found on Apple TV with a subscription to MLS Season Pass. Radio coverage is provided in English on 92.9 The Game and in Spanish on La Mejor.
Atlanta United’s Lineup:
Pumas UNAM’s Lineup:
How to Watch:
Venue: Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, Florida
Kickoff Time: Saturday, August 2nd; 9:00 PM ET
Available TV/Streaming: Apple TV (with MLS Season Pass Subscription)
Available Radio: 92.9 The Game, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM
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What pissed me off. The coach of the other squad saying it wasn’t red cause his hand touched the ball. Dude just ignored Jamal getting absolutely cleaned out. Gracious. And no review on the free kick at the end? The announcer post game even caught it and said “oh, that’s what Atlanta was complaining about, should have been a re kick”. Ronny got a red, ima guess for arguing the same. Would a re kick change things? Who knows. But the last 5 minutes was pure BS.
We didn’t even test the fake keeper. What a joke. Put the ball over the wall, or if you’re too close, pass it off instead. He’s. Not. A. Keeper. All you have to do is put the ball on the effing frame aaaaaaarrrrrgggghhhh.
Nothing we do makes sense anymore
Shoulda passed it around the wall to my man Nyk Sessock.
Dude was maybe 3 yards away when he “hit the wall”
How is that not a penalty for encroachment?
Should have been. Ref lost complete control of that game.
Another poorly officiated game in leagues cup. I’m shocked (sarcasm). But yea, ref completely lost it
That ref did a horrible job controlling the game. I don’t know that it would’ve made a difference, but still annoying
Still can’t believe that Navas stayed on the field for a whole 10 minutes (idk what it was exactly but wtv). That’s absurd. Dude should be fined for that.
It was at least 4 that’s for sure, dude needs a huge fine.
That’s was text book awesome time wasting by Pumas
Defense is atrocious. We give up two penalties and leave a man completely unmarked at the top of the box (for 3 goals). There is just no other way to say it… we are complete trash.
How long does it take to get a red carded player off the field ?
Hey, someone call Almada. Or Kratz…
Pumas has a player whose number is #206? That’s something
Sigh …. Sure would have been nice to have some center backs on the roster for subs instead of sliding an exhausted right wing back over
Who is also on a yellow. I can’t believe he escaped a 2nd yellow on that.
Tough to be competitive when your outside backs are playing like ours have all year.
Aaaaand there’s the ATL we know.
So Slisz and Hernandez are the center backs now ?!
Just put on 10 attackers. Who caressss
lol wut
Can I say Apple sucks with reporting subs
Man… Lennon’s defense, decisions, and positioning is just horrible. He has truly become more of a liability than an asset and I just can’t figure out why he is still starting.
Well today we didn’t have much choice. Looking reeeeeal thin on the depth chart for L/RB with Amador injured.
And CB
Our defense. Monkey trying to bone a football. No shape. No communication. No urgency. No grit.
Constantly have multiple guys marking one player or just standing in space while opponents are unmarked around the 18.
Of course it’s Lennon (mild sarcasm, not much he could’ve done with that)
Starting to see tired legs – we need reinforcements
Seriously Lennon ? Heading back to the center ? Bring in Edwards
I also haven’t seen much from Mihaj and Gregerson. Heard good things about both. How have they been?
They’ve been ok. Not really any flashy plays for or against them, other than a softish yellow for a jump by Gregersen. The play has been pretty much all on the wings for both sides.
Family wanted to go to the movies. I knew it would overlap with Atlanta. I missed the last game and I have never missed two Atlanta games in row. But I didn’t want to throw away memories with the family. So I caved. And of course, the one time I cave, Saba AND Latte Lath score. What have I missed? Was I right to go? Thankfully, I’m back in time for the second half. Looks good so far!
lol, y’all aren’t the only ones who can play the dirty game
Super Saba unselfishly serves Latte
I was going to say, how typical would it be for it to be called offsides?
I apologize for my previous comment Saba
I’ll say this about Hernandez’s yellows, at least someone on defense is playing with some fire.
Hernandez seems to give a crap and shows passion.
The left side is not threatening Saba/lennon are black holes of offense
I assume they’ll announce Lennon’s contract extension tomorrow.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Brooks Lennon.
Of course it’s Lennon
looks like a very soft foul and the foul occurred on the line, so I guess that is considering inside the box?
Oh I agree completely. But also, just, of course it’s on him.
ELL is Thiare except that he is wasting a DP slot and millions of dollars. Simply being fast is not enough
these commentators suck…he really just said Amador with the corner…
Here we go yall….good lord im going to need a therapist after this season
I started meeting regularly with Dr. Pepper and my friend Jack Daniels for therapy sessions, and it has seemed to help some this season.
I like the Pumas logo
Looks like this one is going to be a rough one. Mihaj and Gregersen will have to go the full 90 and stay healthy. No other CBs on the bench tonight. Williams supposedly has soreness
Good thing we had such an excess of CBs that we sold a promising homegrown and loaned out another, and still have 4/5 CBs afterward to cover everything.
…what do you mean one isn’t here yet, one is injury prone, another is injured, and a fourth is injury prone *and* injured?
we will probably pull Gregersen around the 70th min and we will probably just run with 1 CB so Atlanta can try to put more “offense” on the pitch
I like the tournament format with the “league phase” for the first 3 games.
I dont understand the need to play neutral site games in the US.
I’m finding these games to be more entertaining than a useless game against the Rochester Rhinos in a USOC match, but seeing and empty stadium (presumably much more-so than the Necaxa game) is going to be kinda lame.
Edit: I get that Pumas is playing us, Miami, and Orlando, so it is a slight hedge against MLS homefield advantage and gives some sense of travel neutrality, but still.
It would actually be kind of funny to see no one at the stadium because Orlando isn’t one of the teams that is playing
I wonder how badly we would lose to Rochester. 1-2 maybe?
Meh
Blah