Atlanta United knows what it’s like to lose a top star. It’s not easy to replace them. Thankfully, the expansion side have built an extraordinarily deep inaugural roster with two other Designated Players there to pick up the slack for Josef Martinez when he went down with an injury.
Their next opponents aren’t so lucky. Ignacio Piatti has been one of the most important and productive players in all of Major League Soccer over the past two-plus seasons. He went down with a groin injury around the same time as United’s goal-scoring ace.