The champs are finally back. Atlanta United returns to competitive action tonight to kickoff their first-ever Concacaf Champions League journey. Herediano of Costa Rica is 2019’s first test. They qualified for this tournament by winning the 2018 Concacaf League, a tournament for Central American and Caribbean teams in the region.
Atlanta United qualified via the specially implemented combined regular season points (2017 and 2018) in MLS mechanic. Even if they hadn’t gotten passage through that, winning MLS Cup would’ve certainly done it.
Of course, this is also the first real challenge in a new era.