Atlanta United Vs Motagua: 3 things we learned – El Pity dazzles

1. Improvement still needed

Although Atlanta United played well across both legs, a tougher task is looming, Liga MX’s Club America. Although America have yet to advance past Guatemalan side Comunicaciones (1-1 aggregate), they are the heavily favored team and are expected to set up a rematch between the teams from last year’s Campeones Cup, which Atlanta won 3-2.

Tuesday night’s match in Kennesaw allowed Atlanta to log more meaningful minutes ahead of a busy schedule (six matches in 22 days starting this Saturday against Nashville SC). It also highlighted the team’s general rustiness. It’s important to note that the Mexican and Central American teams in the CCL are already a handful of matches into their domestic campaigns. On the other hand, MLS teams are practically still in preseason.

Atlanta played a few poor passes against Motagua. Had Motagua capitalized on any one of those mistakes, Tuesday night’s result may have been very different. Against a team like Club America, Atlanta cannot afford to make those types of mistakes. Motagua are not a poor opponent by any means, but they lack the ruthless attacking quality of Club America, who will kill teams in transition.

The Five Stripes, then, must cut down on their careless mistakes if they want to even consider advancing past Club America in the next round. This was a very positive performance and result, but there is still a long way to go.