Inter Miami’s quest for the 2024 MLS Cup begins Friday with the first of a best-of-three Round 1 series game against Atlanta United - a team they know very well.

Atlanta finished the regular season ninth in the Eastern Conference with 40 points - with half as many wins as many as Messi’s Inter Miami and almost half as many points. They just about crept into the last playoff spot, having finished with the same number of points as DC United but with a better goal difference (-3 compared to -18).

Atlanta sneaked through their Wild Card playoff, beating Montreal 4-5 in a penalty shootout after the game ended 2-2.

But whatever their final positions in the regular season standings might suggest, the playoffs are an entirely different prospect altogether. And besides, Atlanta have had the edge in the most recent encounters, winning two of their last three meetings with Inter Miami - including a 5-2 thumping in September 2023 - the first defeat of the Messi era, although the Argentinean and Jordi Alba both missed the game with ‘muscle fatigue’.

Inter Miami and Atlanta have met a total of 14 times during the past four years. The overall balance couldn’t be closer - five wins each and four games ending in a tie. Miami’s win ratio is 35.7 percent.

First meeting called off

The first ever game between the two teams was due to take place in late August 2020 but ended up being called off. The MLS had only just resumed after being suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Inter Miami and Atlanta were booked to play midweek - their second outing since the restart. But the match was postponed minutes before kickoff - one of four games that wasn’t played in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, with NBA, WNBA and MLB teams also joining the protests.

The historic first meeting at Mercedes-Benz Stadium failed to produce any goals. The hosts enjoyed the most possession while Miami had twice as many attempts on target but it ended 0-0. Lewis Morgan was on target twice within the space of 10 minutes when the two team returned to face each other in Miami a week later. Eric Remedi pulled one back for Atlanta, who had a goal chalked off on half-time - Ezequiel Barco’s 44th minute penalty was saved and while Erick Torres tucked home the rebound, it was disqualified as both teams had players inside the area when the kick was taken. The kick was retaken, and saved once again by Luis Robles.

Close encounters

Inter Miami’s games against Atlanta have been historically close. Nearly all of the clashes that have ended in a victory for one side or the other since then have been decided by one goal - apart from some of the most recent ones...

In last year’s Leagues Cup, the two teams were lumped together in the group stage. With star signing Lionel Messi making his second appearance, the Herons ran out 4-0 winners with the Argentinean netting a first-half brace and Robert Taylor doing likewise after the interval. It remains the biggest win in this particular fixture - even if the next time they met, a couple of months later in MLS, produced a total of seven goals.

During the Messi era, Inter Miami have won one, lost two and drawn one against Atlanta - perhaps significantly, that sole victory came in a knockout tournament and not during the regular season.

Messi and Co. require two wins from their next run-ins with Atlanta to get these playoffs off to the best possible start. Whoever wins, will face the winners of the other tie between Charlotte and Orlando City in the Eastern Conference semifinals, with the tournament switching to a single game, instant knockout format.