Jordi Alba criticized Major League Soccer’s postseason format, labeling the system ‘unfair’, after Inter Miami were eliminated by Atlanta United when they fell 3-2 at Chase Stadium on Saturday evening in the decisive third match of the first round best- of-three playoff series.

Alba appeared in the postseason for the first time this season after Inter Miami failed to qualify in 2023 when the season ended in 14th place in the Eastern Conference.

“It was a good season, but what we wanted was to win this more. In my opinion, I am not the one who is going to change now. This format seems a bit unfair to me,” he said after the match.

“Obviously this has been done this way for 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 to make. I repeat: my congratulations to the rival team. “I think they fought us very well, they knew their weapons, the goalkeeper was spectacular and good, I think that made the difference clear.”

The 2024 MLS playoff format will see teams compete in a best-of-three series before moving to a knockout style for the conference semifinals, finals and MLS Cup.

Inter Miami initially defeated Atlanta on October 25 at Chase Stadium before losing the second match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to even the series and force a decisive third match. Despite dominant statistics and goals from Lionel Messi and Matías Rojas, the Herons struggled to beat the team led by goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

“Today I think we have been superior, we have dominated, but they attacked four times and scored three goals. And there are clearly things that need to be corrected,” Alba said.

Inter Miami qualified for the playoffs after finishing the 2024 MLS campaign as leaders of the Eastern Conference, taking home field advantage by winning the Supporters’ Shield. The team also managed to break the league record for most points in a single season.

Still, head coach Gerardo Martino said that he would not call this season a success. “No, good luck, no. If someone gets eliminated here in the quarter-finals, no. It had good things; it had bad things,” he said at the post-match press conference.

“If you think about where we were in November last year, there is obviously progress as far as the club is concerned, not just the team. If you think about the expectations we had for these play-offs, we clearly fell short.”

The team will now enter the offseason and will shift its focus to building a roster for the 2025 campaign.