After accomplishing just about everything possible during the regular season, Inter Miami now turns their attention to their Audi MLS Cup Playoffs adventure, which kicks off Friday evening (8:30 p.m. ET | Apple TV – Free) against Atlanta United at Chase Stadium. hope, peaks with an MLS Cup hoist at the same location on December 7.

The Herons are not holding back with their intentions for this Round One Best-of-3 Series against the bottom-seeded Five Stripes.

“I think we are in a good place, we are doing well,” left back Jordi Alba told reporters in Spanish at the Florida Blue Training Center on Thursday morning. “They will be a complicated opponent. We have the advantage of playing the first game here at home in front of our people, and hopefully we can condemn the series in their stadium.”

WATCH: Player Spotlight – Messi on TikTok

IMCF has plenty of momentum heading into the postseason. They haven’t lost a league game since July 6, a remarkable run of form that took them to the Supporters’ Shield – which ensures next Saturday’s Game 2 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be their only away match in the play-offs – and a new MLS single-season points record.

“I think it is extremely important for us to start the play-offs on our own field. If we have a very important first game, that sets the tone,” goalkeeper Drake Callender said on Tuesday.

“There is still a chance to lift another trophy and compete. So I think it’s great, it’s great for the club. We are on a forward trajectory and we see these play-offs as an opportunity to get another trophy and prove why we were awarded the Supporters’ Shield.”

Their 6-2 Decision Day victory over New England provided an opportunity to celebrate all that with their home fans, plus the official revelation from visiting FIFA President Gianni Infantino that they have been awarded the final spot in the US-hosted Club World from next summer. Cup.

That page has already been turned, they say, with the collective belief that all that success will mean little if they don’t persevere and win the hardware that will put them a star above their prime.

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

A succession of IMCF failures gave the Revolution an early 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 play-offs .

“That happens often, this is football. And the truth is that you solve them with work. We honestly played a fantastic game (against New England),” center back David Martínez said in Spanish. “It was a game that had everything: very good things and also bad things. But by continuing to work, I think we will correct those small mistakes.”

Their attacking wealth is such that it’s understandable if their defenders don’t sound particularly perturbed about making mistakes, which could be another sign of the solid culture their superstar veterans have helped build in the locker room.

“The key to breaking the points record and everything else was our way of competing, of wanting to win despite leading the standings for most of the year. We wanted to keep winning and playing well. And that’s how we go into the play-offs: try to win,” said Alba. “It won’t be easy, but I’m confident we can do it because we have a very good team and the home field factor, which is very important.”

It’s an MLS truism that the postseason is a whole new game. While Miami’s organizational experience with that environment is sparse—IMCF has played two playoff games in their short existence and lost both without scoring a single goal—much of the current roster can hark back to the Leagues Cup— campaign last summer. And Martino and utility man Julian Gressel helped ATLUTD navigate a demanding path to an MLS Cup title in 2018, adding another facet to this first-round showdown with that club.

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

Miami is heavily favored, in part because they are recovering and preparing for Friday’s game, while Atlanta traveled a thousand miles round trip to eliminate CF Montréal in Tuesday’s dramatic Eastern Conference Wild Card game. However, that advantage pales in comparison to the Herons’ main asset: the soft-spoken Argentine wearing their No. 10 jersey.

Messi scored six goals and added four assists in Miami’s defeat to the Revs and his Albiceleste side’s World Cup qualifier against Bolivia last week and looks set for his MLS Cup Playoffs debut.

“With the same natural way he can score six goals in five days,” said the GOAT’s Martino. “That natural way is also how he lives his life. He has had a normal week, worked well and prepared himself with the others to play these finals.”

As the discourse swirls around Messi’s prospects for the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award, Martino insists their No. 10 is firmly among the most elite players in the world.

“If I ask you,” Martino countered, “which player gets the ball 25 yards from the goal with seven opponents in front of him, and is there a feeling that a goal will be scored?

“There is no one else.”

WATCH: Player Spotlight – Messi on TikTok