On a cold November night at Yankee Stadium last season, Atlanta United decided to bunker. Up 1-0 to New York City FC in the second half of their Eastern Conference semifinal, the eventual MLS Cup champions gritted their teeth and protected their lead.



“We came together and defended like lions,” recalled defender Leandro González Pírez earlier this month.



The mentality that the team displayed that night would carry them to the final, and it was the 27-year-old Argentine’s defensive performances that stood out. González Pírez was arguably the best defender of the 2018 postseason. He’ll need to find that form again if Atlanta United hope to advance past the Philadelphia Union without Miles Robinson or Michael Parkhurst, who will both miss Thursday’s Eastern Conference semifinal. That will force González Pírez to anchor Atlanta’s short-handed backline.



When Parkhurst was...