Alba labels MLS postseason 'unfair' after Inter Miami's elimination

Jordi Alba declared the Major League Soccer postseason format "unfair" after Inter Miami tumbled out of the opening round Saturday night following a shock 3-2 defeat at the hands of Atlanta United.

Inter Miami broke the record for the most points in a single regular season (74) as they clinched the MLS Supporters' Shield. However, goals from Matias Rojas and Lionel Messi weren't enough to keep the Herons alive in the third game of their Eastern Conference series.

Bartosz Slisz's 76th-minute header eliminated Miami and put Atlanta among the final eight teams vying for MLS Cup glory.

"It was a good season, but what we wanted was to win this more," Alba said post-match, according to ESPN's Lizzy Becherano. "This format seems a little unfair to me.

"It is clear that it has been done this way for many years, but if you ask me, if it were up to me, I would have to be the champion of one conference against the champion of the other, to make it as fair as possible, that's how it is," Alba continued. "I repeat, congratulations to the rival team. I think they competed very well against us, they knew their weapons, the goalkeeper was spectacular and good, I think that is what clearly marked the difference."

MLS adopted its latest playoff format in 2023, starting with two wild-card matches between conference rivals who finish eighth and ninth. That's followed by a best-of-three series before moving on to knockout matches from the last-eight stage. Before that change, the postseason only featured single-elimination games, with the top seeds from the East and West getting a bye to the Conference Semifinals.

Inter Miami won 2-1 at home to open their best-of-three showdown with Atlanta before losing by the same scoreline in Georgia. Miami outshot Atlanta 25-9 and had 64% possession for the decisive fixture back in Florida, but 40-year-old goalkeeper Brad Guzan made seven saves in a huge victory for Rob Valentino's Atlanta United.

"Today I think we have been superior, we have dominated, but they attacked four times and they scored three goals," Alba said. "And well, there's things to correct, clearly."

The Messi-led era at Inter Miami won the Leagues Cup in 2023 but failed to reach the MLS postseason later that year after finishing the campaign in 14th place of the Eastern Conference. They also lost the U.S. Open Cup final to the Houston Dynamo.

In 2024, Inter Miami impressed en route to clinching Supporters' Shield, with Messi and Luis Suarez scoring 20 goals apiece. Gerardo Martino's team was also booted from the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals by Monterrey and turfed out of the Leagues Cup round of 16 by the Columbus Crew.