Columbus vs. Atlanta playoff battle is one for the MLS outsiders

Both teams kick-started their rebirth with the appointment of exciting, system-driven coaches. Columbus chose Wilfried Nancy, the French coach who turned CF Montréal into something of a Canadian powerhouse and gave him unprecedented freedom to bring his ideas to their soccer pyramid. 

"I am really happy to work for Columbus because it's one club," he said. "The idea is to implement all these concepts from the youth academy to the first team. And I'm not talking about 4-3-3, 3-5-2, 3-4-3; this is not that. This is all about the ideas behind that, what concept we're going to use to manipulate the opposition, what concept we're going to use to try to win the ball back."

Atlanta, meanwhile, opted for former Mexico international Gonzalo Pineda. While his appointment was met with some concern, Pineda has more than proved his worth for the Five Stripes, developing a tangible and engrossing playing style built around his key athletes. 

"I would say it’s even more up to the players. 'This is my individual battle here, my area, our midfield versus their midfield.’' Who’s going to win that battle? Who’s going to want it more? Who really wants to succeed? We’re probably going to neutralize each other with the tactics. It’s just up to the players," he said.

From there, both Columbus and Atlanta looked to South America. Columbus signed Colombia international Cucho Hernandez and never looked back; Cucho has lit MLS on fire this season and has been called the "best modern forward in MLS." Atlanta brought in Argentinian phenom Thiago Almada, who went on to become the first active MLS player to win a World Cup when he lifted the trophy with teammate Lionel Messi in Qatar.

When Columbus and Atlanta face off Wednesday evening in their first playoff match of three, they'll bring this battle of the MLS outsiders to its natural conclusion. Both are lovable, talented sides who overcame the odds to get here, but only one can advance to the quarterfinals.

Columbus has the edge and home-field advantage, with the first and final games of the series expected to take place at Lower.com Field. But with similar ideologies and plenty of hunger on both sides, this could wind up being one of the closest playoff series in MLS.