“Very special”: Gonzalo Pineda focused on Atlas, but looking forward to Atlanta return

Gonzalo Pineda’s last game coaching Atlanta United was on June 2, 2024, a 3-2 loss to Charlotte FC. One day later, he was fired.

Just over 10 months later, Pineda will be back in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, this time as the head coach of Atlas SC as they face Atlanta in Leagues Cup.

“I’m very focused on my team now, but seeing people that I didn’t see for a year is always special,” Pineda said on Tuesday, a day before his current team faces his former team.

After being fired by Atlanta, Pineda was ultimately hired by Atlas in December after the club parted ways with Beñat San José, with Atlas going on to finish with 18 points (4-7-6) in the 2024-25 clausura.

And although neither Atlas nor Atlanta United can advance to the Leagues Cup knockout stage regardless of Wednesday’s result, Pineda hopes the match can be a building block for his group. Atlas are 1-1-1 in the 2025-26 apertura and return to league action on Saturday against Pachuca, undefeated through the first three matches of Liga MX play.

“It is important to continue the improvement of the team,” he said. “I think we’ve been improving in certain areas that we wanted to improve … We will try to put (out) a good team because for us, it’s also important to have some rhythm for the game vs. Pachuca.”

That improvement was evident, Pineda said, against Inter Miami despite conceding a late winner to Marcelo Weigandt.

“We played against Inter Miami with a lot of personality, trying to play from the back and disrupting the pressure of Inter and creating a few good chances,” he said. “Unfortunately, last second of the game, we couldn’t win. We couldn’t hold the tie as well. So that was unfortunate, but I think the performance was better.”

While he’s looking for further signs of progress from his side against Atlanta in what will account as little more than a friendly, that’s not to say that Pineda isn’t looking forward to reconnecting with familiar faces at the Benz.

“I think more than the building is the people around that you make connections (with), you make relationships (with), and it’s always a good moment to have to rejoin people here, to say hi to friends and all that. That’s very special,” he said.