After accomplishing just about everything possible during the regular season, Inter Miami now focuses on its Audi MLS Cup playoff adventure, which begins against Atlanta United at Chase Stadium on Friday night (8 p.m. 30 ET | Apple TV – Free) and, they hope, culminates with an MLS Cup uprising at the same venue on December 7.

The Herons aren’t playing coy with their intentions for this first-round Best-of-3 series against the lower-seeded Five Stripes.

“I think we’re in a good position, we’re doing things well,” left back Jordi Alba told reporters in Spanish Thursday morning at the Florida Blue Training Center. “It will be a complicated opponent. We have the advantage of playing the first game here at home in front of our people, and I hope we can seal the series in their stadium.

WATCH: Player Spotlight – Messi on TikTok

IMCF carries great momentum into the playoffs. They have not lost a league match since July 6, a remarkable form which has propelled them to the Supporters’ Shield – which ensures that next Saturday’s second match at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be their only away game. playoffs – and a new MLS single-season points record.

“Starting the playoffs at home, I think it’s huge for us. Having a very important first game, it sets the tone,” guard Drake Callender said Tuesday.

“There is still an opportunity to lift another trophy and compete. So I think it’s great, it’s great for the club. We’re on a good path and we’re looking at these playoffs as a chance to win another trophy and prove why we got the Supporters’ Shield.

Their 6-2 Decision Day victory over New England provided an opportunity to celebrate all of this with their home fans, as well as the official revelation from visiting FIFA President Gianni Infantino that they have secured the latest place for the Club World Cup organized next summer in the United States. Cup.

This page has already been turned, they say, with the collective conviction that all this success will mean nothing if they do not follow through and obtain the material that earns them a star above their coat of arms .

“(Celebrating the Shield) does not make us lose sight of the fact that the most important thing begins now,” head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said in Spanish.

A sequence of IMCF breakdowns gave the Revolution a 2-0 lead on Saturday before Luis Suárez and Leo Messi led a fierce fightback, prompting Martino to warn his team that the margin for such errors will be much smaller in the playoffs.

“It tends to happen, it’s football. And the truth is you fix them with work. Honestly, we played a fantastic game against New England,” said the central defender (David Martinez in Spanish. “It was a game that had everything – very good things and bad things too. But in continuing to work, I think we will correct these small errors.

Their offensive riches are such that it’s understandable why their defenders don’t seem particularly perturbed about making mistakes, which could be another sign of the strong culture their veteran superstars have helped establish in the locker room.

“The key to breaking the points record and everything else was the way we competed, wanting to win even though we were at the top of the standings most of the year. We wanted to continue winning and playing well. And that’s how we head into the playoffs: try to win,” Alba noted. “It won’t be easy, but I’m convinced we can do it because we have a very good team and the field factor, which is very important.”

It’s a truism in MLS that the playoffs are a whole new ball game. Although Miami’s organizational experience in this environment is limited – IMCF played in two playoff games during its brief existence and lost both without scoring a single goal – much of the current team can be recalled from last summer’s League Cup campaign. And Martino and utilityman Julian Gressel helped ATLUTD navigate a demanding path to an MLS Cup title in 2018, which adds another facet to this first-round showdown with this club.

“My story with Atlanta was very beautiful, we enjoyed it a lot. It was an expansion team (2017), we enjoyed building and we enjoyed those two seasons, regardless of the final result,” Martino said. “So playing against Atlanta will always be special.”

Miami is heavily favored, in part because they have recovered and are preparing for Friday’s clash, while Atlanta traveled thousands of miles and back to eliminate CF Montreal in the dramatic Conference Wild Card game. ‘East of Tuesday. That advantage, however, pales in comparison to the Herons’ main asset: the soft-spoken Argentinian who wears their No.10 jersey.

Messi scored six goals and added four assists last week in Miami’s rout of the Revs and in his Albiceleste team’s World Cup qualifier against Bolivia, and looks ready for his playoff debut MLS Cup playoffs.

“With the same natural way he is able to score six goals in five days,” Martino said of the GOAT. “This natural way is also the way he lives his life. He had a normal week, he worked well and he prepared with the others to compete in these finals.

As talk revolves around Messi’s prospects for the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award, Martino insists their number 10 ranks firmly among the most elite players in the world.

“If I ask you,” Martino replied, “which player picks up the ball 25 meters from the goal with seven opponents in front of him, and you have the feeling that there is going to be a goal?

“There is no one else.”

WATCH: Player Spotlight – Messi on TikTok