Not all teams at the top of the standings and at the odds list get to win it all. Favorites are just an educated guess.

This has been the story as Inter Miami bowed out of the MLS Playoffs after losing to Atlanta United in the deciding clash, 3-2. No one expected this to be the outcome, nor for Atlanta to come up with a promising run to beat the heavy favorites to win the MLS Cup. This just says a lot about how Lionel Messi and Inter Miami have been sent home in the most humiliating and disappointing fashion.

At this point, it cannot be denied that Inter Miami’s story has been hyped ever since Messi came to the club. The expectations were sky-high, and this season has been looked to be quite the year where they are going to triumph and even punctuate a historic feat for the former Barca star to be able to win in three different leagues.

Instead, Atlanta United moves on to the semis of the Eastern Conference, and now the odds have been shaken up to another level with yet another upset win after the New York Red Bulls also knocked out defending champions Columbus Crew. At this point, the race to the MLS Cup is wide open.

Major Upset on the Horizon

Miami was the hot pick to win this clash, and they certainly looked like it right from the start of the game. Matias Rojas drilled the goal to open up the lead for Inter Miami in the 17th minute as they went up 1-0. However, Atlanta would go on to ramp up the pace as Jamal Thiare scored at a hot run with two goals in two minutes, helping Atlanta United take the 2-1 lead by halftime.

Panic was not settling in for Miami, and the Lionel Messi show came into life when he drained a goal in the 65th minute to level the game at 2-2, which also marked the first goal for the Argentine in the playoffs. At that point, it was expected that a tight ending was coming – or it would go on to end in a shootout.

However, it was a play from Bartosz Slisz who scored a header in the 76th minute that shocked the fans at home. Atlanta took a 3-2 lead with just minutes away from crunch time, and they certainly held on well to keep Miami from tying up the game again. It was an ending that shocked Inter Miami, its fans at home, and even the entire MLS world.

With Inter Miami out, the Eastern Conference has been blown wide open – and so is the entire MLS Cup.

Shake Up in the Odds

At this point, the two LA teams now dominate the show in the MLS with the way things are set up for them. Both LAFC and LA Galaxy won’t meet potentially until the West Finals, which says a lot about the possible winner of the MLS Cup being unpredictable with Inter Miami out.

So far, the New York Red Bulls and Atlanta United are the only two teams who are expected to make a splash in the East, and this just seems that there are a lot of talks as to how these two teams will find a way to meet each other and call it a massive series to remember. But at this point, it is everyone’s game.