Portland Timbers-Atlanta United Preview (9/19/26)

Due to MLS’ split between East and West (enforced by the size of the United States) there are some teams that the Portland Timbers only see once in a blue moon. One of those sides could have been considered a competitive rival eight years ago, when they beat the Timbers in MLS Cup. However, aside from an Open Cup triumph in 2019, the past 8 years have not been kind to Atlanta United. 

The Atlanta Report

When these two teams last met on March 18, 2023, a very injured Timbers team lined up in a back five and got pasted 5-1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The highlight of that game was a trademark Thiago Almada free kick deep into first-half stoppage time that gave Atlanta a 2-0 lead and wrapped up the game before the Five Stripes added three more goals in the second half. Portland’s goalscorer was Tega Ikoba, and he was assisted by Diego Gutierrez. However, this game could have been completely different if Eryk Williamson’s outrageous 2nd-minute long range rocket wasn’t disallowed by Ted Unkel due to a dubious “interference” call.

Atlanta would finish 6th in the East at the end of 2023, and their season ended in the first round with a Best-of-3 loss to eventual champions Columbus. That happens sometimes. However, they had reason to be excited for 2024. Top scorer Giorgos Giakoumakis was returning, and so was Almada. The offensive firepower was enough to lead Atlanta back to the playoffs, but questions remained on the defense. That promise turned sour by the spring. The Five Stripes responded by firing head coach Gonzalo Pineda and selling Giakoumakis, Almada, and left back Caleb Wiley in the summer. Atlanta only decided to replace one of those DPs before the season ended; opting to send $13.5M to Italian club Atalanta for Russian playmaker Aleksey Miranchuk. Despite a weaker squad up front, interim head coach Rob Valentino guided the Five Stripes to the playoffs. More specifically, the Wild Card Game. However, they overcame a brace from former hero Josef Martinez to beat Montreal in penalties and advance to the Best-of-3 round, where they fell in 2023. But their opponent was Shield-winning points-record achieving Inter Miami. In a shocking upset, they triumphed in 3 games. Xande Silva scored a humongous game-winner in Game 2 stoppage time, and a wild 3-2 win in Game 3 sent Tata Martino’s Inter Miami to a bitterly disappointing early offseason. 

Unfortunately for Atlanta, their other rivals (Orlando) beat them in the Conference Semis two weeks later. And the transformational offseason of 2025 commenced.

Most “transformational offseasons” are defined as such because the team gets better. Atlanta’s 2025 transformational offseason was the exact opposite. And it’s really funny.

First, they had to address the head coaching vacancy. Portland’s decade of humiliation officially kicked off when NYCFC won 2021 MLS Cup at Providence Park. As I stood in section 106 with a blank stare, NYCFC’s head coach was taking off his shirt at the other end of the pitch. Norwegian head coach Ronny Delia, who relied on penalty shootout after penalty shootout to lift that trophy, was tabbed as the guy to take over the vacant Atlanta job. With Delia (henceforth known as “Gaffer Ronny”) installed, the next order of business was the vacant DP slots. Miguel Almiron was an Atlanta hero who led them to that 2018 MLS Cup, and the Five Stripes paid $10.8M to bring him back to Magic City from Newcastle. But the real transformation was what they chose to do with their second open DP slot. 

FC Cincinnati began the 2025 offseason with a league-record transfer after prying Kevin Denkey from Cercle Brugge for $16.2M. Not to be outdone, Atlanta spent a whopping $22M on Middlesbrough striker Emmanuel Latte Lath. Here’s how Atlanta’s attack was supposed to work in 2025: Almiron and Saba Lobjanidze would operate out wide with Miranchuk through the middle. Those creators would find Latte Lath in the box to finish the play. However, Latte Lath was a one-trick pony. That trick was running in behind, something that can be used when plenty of space in behind existed. Opposing teams quickly countered this by denying Atlanta that space.

Atlanta began 2025 with 2 wins in their first 6 games, not the start that you want when you’re a preseason Shield and MLS Cup favorite. An 8-game winless streak followed, and it was abundantly clear by early May that Gaffer Ronny did not have the ability to turn this high-priced attack into even a league-competent outfit. The Five Stripes continued to suffer, and they utterly stumbled to a 14th-placed finish in the East. However, it was almost even more embarrassing. That 14th-placed conference finish turned to 29th in the Shield standings, only two points ahead of Spoon-winning DC United. A preseason MLS Cup and Shield pick came within two points of winning the Wooden Spoon. Spectacular work, Gaffer Ronny. Take off your shirt.

Gaffer Ronny would soon take off his Atlanta shirt because he got fired right after the season ended. That move was inevitable. To replace him, chief soccer officer Chris Henderson decided to call on another familiar face after their 2025 move for Almiron worked out so well (that’s sarcastic). Martino, the head coach who presided over the only successful period in Atlanta United history, was re-hired for 2026. None of the DP slots could be opened, mostly due to the front office’s reluctance to use one of their buyouts on either of Miranchuk, Latte Lath, or Almiron’s expensive contracts.

Slisz, Mosquera, Thiare, and Lennon were heroes of the 2024 team. But the retirement of Guzan signified a new era for the Five Stripes. The American international goalkeeper was the first name on the teamsheet since Atlanta’s first game back in 2017.

None of these players move the needle. Maybe Baez and Jacob (both of them arriving on the U22 tag) could become productive players on a disappointing Atlanta backline. But the 2026 Apertura was merely a continuation of the 2025 disaster. The Five Stripes entered the World Cup break with a 3-2-9 record and 11 points from 14 games. Martino was openly saying that he’d be fired in any other job if he didn’t have the history with Atlanta. All 3 DPs continued to disappoint.

So the primary objective during the summer was to churn the roster as much as possible. Latte Lath left on loan to Union Berlin after scoring 11 goals in 48 games for Atlanta. That’s a league record signing, by the way (since broken). Amador was also a hero in 2024, same with Saba. Gregersen was supposed to be a marshalling center back but couldn’t get off the trainer’s table.

The incoming players were expected to start. Alonso and Diaz have engaged in a timeshare at center back, with Alonso becoming Martino’s preferred option alongside Enea Mihaj. Amaro is a highly-touted U22 midfielder. But Embolo is the centerpiece. The Swiss international, fresh off a debatable red card in the World Cup, arrived for $18M to fill Latte Lath’s vacated DP slot. 

Atlanta United (6-5-14, 23 points, 14E/28S) have not been able to embark on a Clausura turnaround. They’re 5 points ahead of Spoon-leading SKC, and a loss tomorrow would certainly knock them out of playoff contention (like they aren’t already, seriously). Do you want to know a really interesting Atlanta stat? 5 of those 6 wins have come in conjunction with 9-point weeks. The week of April 25th saw Atlanta beat Toronto 2-1, win a midweek Open Cup game with Charlotte 2-0 (which featured Dean Smith getting in an argument with fans in the stands, more on that in a month) and defeat Montreal 3-1. Another 9-point week followed in mid-August. 2-1 win against the Red Bulls, 2-1 win in Minnesota, and a 2-1 win against SKC. 

Since that second 9-point week, the Five Stripes are 0-2-2. In order: 2-0 home loss to Charlotte, 2-2 draw in Miami, 3-2 home loss to Orlando (both Atlanta goals were own goals), and a 0-0 road draw in DC (that Atlanta definitely should’ve won if they could finish). However, the inherent awfulness of the Eastern Conference means that the Five Stripes are only 9 points back of the final playoff spot. They will be desperate tomorrow above all else. 

ATL Injury Report & Projected Starting XI

Congratulations to Atlanta for having a clear injury report. Hang the banner.

This is the exact same lineup that drew 0-0 in DC last weekend except for one change. I think Muyumba starts in the midfield instead of Cooper Sanchez. However, there are only a couple of starters who can be confidently Sharpied in. Hoyos, Jacob, Mihaj, and all three forwards (the DPs) should all start. The midfield has been a rotating mess for the past couple of years. Fortune and Muyumba are holdovers, while Amaro is new. The aforementioned Sanchez is an academy graduate. Adrian Gill is also a potential starter in the midfield. So is Will Reilly. Atlanta has talent, and they’re desperate. Not a very encouraging combination. Trap game alarms are blaring.

The Timbers Report

“I have a lot of friends over there,” Ronald Hernandez said on Thursday. “But I’m focusing on myself…It’s a home game at Providence Park with our fans. So I’m really focused on us rather than them.”

The former Atlanta United defender, fresh off his first start for Portland, is ready for his first match against his former club. For the Timbers (9-5-11, 32 points, 8W/15S), they’re about to go on a 3-game road-trip. Tomorrow’s game is a must-win in order to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Roster Profile!

Here’s how the Timbers will end the season provided that no free agent signings are on the way. We have to take care of some business from the winter window first. Jose Caicedo was not present on the first roster profile release. Unsurprisingly, he is a TAM player. Vincent Janssen is also a TAM player as a free agent signing. Ronald Hernandez is not taking up an international roster slot, but Joel Waterman is. 21 players are listed as senior roster members.

$782K in GAM will be carried over into the sprint season. In terms of roster flexibility, the phantom DP slot still exists. Cole Bassett and Antony will both come off their U22 designation in the winter. That opens 3 U22 slots and 1 DP slot or 4 U22 slots and 0 DP slots. Plenty of flexibility exists in the winter, and the Timbers wouldn’t shy away from a pivot to the DP model if the right deal for the right player emerges. But I’d expect the winter to be dominated by U22 signings.

There’s also the question of the expiring contracts. I’d expect five options to be exercised: Finn Surman, Antony, Ian Smith, Gage Guerra, and Ariel Lassiter. Omir Fernandez and Kamal Miller also have contract options, but I think the club will likely try to renegotiate given their relative non-team friendly salaries. Zac McGraw falls into the Fernandez-Miller group, but he hasn’t played a minute of first-team soccer since the Open Cup victory against Tacoma last year. Alexander Aravena is on loan, so he has 9 games left to make an impression on Marti Cifuentes. James Pantemis doesn’t have a contract option, so he could choose to test free agency. Trey Muse and Eric Miller do not have contract options either. Ned Grabavoy has mentioned that the club is trying to get new contracts for Surman and Pantemis. Watch this space.

Tree Questions With Omir Fernandez

The Bronx Messi got his first league start in over a year (July 16th, 2025 against RSL to be exact) last weekend in Dallas. I caught up with him on Thursday after the on-field training session concluded.

Q: How do you believe you performed in the false 9 role last weekend and is that a position that you enjoy playing?

Fernandez: “I think it was a different game than how I wanted it to be. Obviously as a number 9 you kind of play for the team, you know. You start off the press, you occupy spaces so creative guys can find their moments and create chances. And for me, it was to try to get into the box and finish some goals. Obviously as a striker, I’m trying to get into the box as much as I can. I wish I got into some better areas to get a little bit more chances, but overall I think for the game that it was it needed me to occupy space and make runs in behind. I thought it was a good game for me. I spoke with some of the guys to see if maybe they could look for me in certain areas to get me 1-on-1 or through on goal. But obviously that takes time. Marti talked to me and speaks to me in an aspect of ‘Play the number 9 with your qualities.’ You know, obviously I’m not a typical target man so it’s ‘How can we play with Omir as the number 9 coming into spaces and running in behind?’ So obviously he believes in me there and I did enjoy it, so I just hope that I can get more chances on goal to finish them off.”

Q: It was your first start in more than a year. How do you view this past year in the time between both of these starts with the coaching change and your injury recovery?

Fernandez: “I don’t remember when the last start was but like you said it’s been a while. Towards the end of last year I started becoming more comfortable with the team and my role on the team. Obviously a lot has changed team-wise and personal-wise. When I came back, I came back with a different mentality of being very grateful and very happy to be able to play this year and to be at a high level. I feel even better than what I was before. Now it’s building myself up and speaking with the staff and what they see in me. Obviously they understand that I’m coming back from a big injury, so they’re trying to integrate me and obviously they need results. So I’m just glad that in training, they see that I’m performing well and can obviously start and be impactful from the start. So now it’s up to me to use these minutes and keep building more chemistry with everybody in whichever position that they may need me.

Q: How do you believe that the team has been working on defending from the front, and the way Marti wants to set up the press? How have those sessions been going?

Fernandez: “It starts from the front. Our mentality to start the press and come back to recover and help the team and be compact starts with not just the defenders, but everybody. When something happens back there, it’s considered the defenders’ fault, but we see it as a whole team thing. How can we fix that? So in the training sessions and just in all the games in general, I think we’ve seen some major improvements from the team. Overall, you know we want to keep clean sheets, and obviously those are mistakes that we’re going to see and that we watch on film and speak about in the training sessions. It’s just staying focused. I think we’re hard to break down when we’re all compact, it’s just little lapses of focus where people catch us and good teams punish us. We know that we can score goals, and we have the players and team to do that. Now it’s just keeping clean sheets that we have to take more pride in.”

PTFC Injury Report & Projected Starting XI

Vincent Janssen and Jimer Fory are available for selection. David Da Costa has cleared concussion protocol. Aravena and Caicedo are still out. The Chilean winger has been an active participant in full group training. His return to the matchday squad seems imminent.

Janssen, Da Costa, and Fory’s returns allow them to jump right back into the starting lineup. Lassiter should also reclaim his starting role after being rotated for Dallas. Waterman was tidy and controlled in Dallas, so there isn’t a reason for him to be dropped. Hernandez should be starting against his former team. The rest of the lineup picks itself, although the midfield starters could be slightly different. With a full week of rest before and after tomorrow’s game, rotation shouldn’t be on Cifuentes’ mind. 

Tactical Preview

Gaining an Identity

Since a loss in Dallas is relatively par for the course, Cifuentes was able to take the positives from that game. And he was especially proud of the progress the team made towards finding their desired identity. “I think the kind of winning mentality that I want to build shouldn’t be about playing away or at home, shouldn’t be about who is in front of us. It’s always about us being dominant enough, being good enough, keeping the standards.”

Tomorrow’s game is a great opportunity for the standards to be reinforced. The Timbers are at home and about to go on the road for three straight games. Counterpressing, proper buildup sequencing, clear patterns of play, and other aspects of Cifuentes’ system should be on display. That includes avoiding the individual errors that have defined the team over the past few years. 

The First Goal

This next section will be short and simple.

Record when scoring first: 7-2-1 (2.3 PPG)

Record when conceding first: 4-3-11 (0.8 PPG)

Hooray! 0-0 draw!: none in 2026

Maybe it won’t be so short and simple. I’d like to delve into these numbers a little more. All competitions have been included (which is just a caveat to show that I included the three Leagues Cup games). The Timbers have conceded the first goal in 64% of their games in 2026. That’s an eye-watering ratio. However, they have only lost 1 game when they scored first. That game was the Houston defeat back in March. Three of the four comeback wins occurred under Jack Cassidy’s stewardship (which by default means that they were at home).

Scoring first is absolutely crucial. So another positive start combined with the first goal should be enough for the Timbers to taste victory tomorrow.

Matchday Info

Broadcast Bulletin

English: Evan Weston & Sacha Kljestan

Spanish: Bruno Vain & Andres Agulla

Home Radio Broadcast from 105.1 The Fan: available on Apple TV

Broadcast Platform: Apple TV

Kickoff Time: 7:30 PM PST

Referee Report

Ismail Elfath’s 2026 stats: 14 games, 24.57 fouls/game, 0.36 penalties/game, 3.86 yellows/game, 0.29 reds/game

Record in Timbers games: 14-7-9, +4 goal differential, -15 foul differential, +5 yellow card differential, +1 red card differential, +3 penalty differential

Last Timbers game officiated: April 27, 2024 @LAFC 3-2 L

Diego Chara became MLS’ ultimate one-club man in the last Timbers game Elfath was in charge of. The club captain’s 377th appearance was celebrated by the referee, who decided to give Chara a second yellow card. 3 out of the last 5 Portland-Elfath matches have been Portland-LAFC games. After a pretty good World Cup showing (most notably in England-Argentina) Elfath has officiated 4 MLS games. It will be his first Timbers game in more than 2 years.

Series History

Historical record: 1-2-3, -7 goal differential

Home record: 1-1-1, -1 goal differential

Current streak: 1 loss

Current home streak: 1 win

Portland’s 2-1 win at Providence Park on September 4th, 2022 was delivered by two penalty kicks. It’s the only win against Atlanta in Timbers history.

Table Time

This table is so weird, y’all. Vancouver still reigns supreme with a game in hand. Houston and Dallas are 3 points behind them. San Jose and St. Louis represents the top-4 divide. LAFC, in 6th place, is only 6 points behind the Whitecaps. The 8th-placed Timbers are in a precarious spot. 2 points ahead of 9th-placed San Diego, and 3 points behind 7th-placed Colorado. A win tomorrow would not propel Portland to 7th place due to the wins tiebreaker. However, they could fall to 11th with a loss and other unsavory results. Let’s take a moment to acknowledge the Seattle Sounders in 14th. Will it be 13 straight without a win as they head to Colorado tomorrow?

Although I jest, Seattle’s position really illustrates how tight the table is. The Sounders have two games in hand, and hypothetical victories in those games would push them back above the playoff line (and, by default, above the Timbers). With 9 games remaining, the Timbers have to win as many as possible.

Final Whistle

Especially the games at home. One of the primary points of focus for the Timbers this year was rebuilding the fortress. After a 2025 where Portland finished with a negative goal differential at Providence Park, the Timbers have a 7-3-3 record with a +7 goal differential at home in 2026 so far. Although the Timbers aren’t dominant at home, they have been able to get the job done for the most part.

That’s what the ethos of tomorrow’s game should be. Atlanta has fallen on hard times, but their glory years coincided with handing the Timbers a loss in MLS Cup. These kinds of wounds don’t heal easily. However, only two players will take the field tomorrow who were included in the matchday squads when these two teams met in 2023. One of them is La Sonrisa Eterna, and the other is Ronald Hernandez. But two players and one coach were on the pitch on that fateful December day in Atlanta. Almiron and Martino made their homecomings to try and bring the Five Stripes back to glory, while Diego Chara has spent the entirety of this decade trying to add to his Portland trophy cabinet. Those men remember what happened 8 years ago. Only one of them remembers what happened 4 years ago. But I wonder how many of them remember what happened 9 years ago.

On May 14, 2017, a buddy and I decided to secure some donated tickets from the Fanladen and go watch the Timbers face Atlanta for the first time. Julian Gressel opened the scoring right out of halftime before Liam Ridgewell equalized four minutes later. Despite some heavy Timbers pressure at the end (culminating with David Guzman sending a curling shot off the crossbar from outside the box) the game ended in a 1-1 draw. It was the only time I sat in 103. It was the first time that we had attended a game together. More games would follow, including huddling around a TV in his bedroom to watch Dairon Asprilla’s penalty kick bypass Stefan Frei’s outstretched arm to give the Timbers a famous playoff win in Seattle. That TV was also the place where we enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving in 2021, only to be followed by a spot in 106 for the ensuing Western Conference Final. My MLS Cup ticket scheme only worked for me, unfortunately. The Timbers probably would’ve won if he was there.

That friend is getting married tomorrow, and I’ll have to pull double duty. However, it might be more fitting if we crowded around my computer or a phone during the reception and watched another Portland-Atlanta game. Maybe we will.

My duties tomorrow might be a little more convoluted than normal. But for the Timbers, they have a clear objective in mind. With four home games remaining, victories in all of those favorable fixtures are absolutely paramount. That begins tomorrow. The climb continues.