United crowd now part of world’s elite

Only three clubs in Europe outdrew Atlanta this week.

Atlanta United’s 72,035 tickets sold and distributed for Sunday’s 3-1 win against D.C. United was not just the biggest crowd in MLS history, it was the fourth-largest in world soccer for last week’s games.

The only three games that outdrew the Five Stripes where at Old Trafford, where 74,855 tickets were sold for Manchester United’s 2-1 win against Liverpool; at the Allianz Arena in Munich where 75,000 tickets were sold for Bayern Munich’s 6-0 win against Hamburg; and at Signal Iduna Park in Germany, where Borussia Dortmund defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 in front of 81,360.

Atlanta United has the top three most-attended games in MLS history, set in just nine games played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The franchise was going to open Mercedes-Benz Stadium to full capacity for just four games this season. However, the team tweeted Monday that because of demand it is going to “go big” for the game against Chicago on Oct. 21. That will bring the total of full-capacity games to five, with four remaining on June 30 vs. Orlando, July 15 vs. Seattle, Sept. 22 vs. Real Salt Lake and the Chicago game.

CURTIS COMPTON/CCOMPTON@AJC.COM Who says Atlanta is a bad sports town? Atlanta United fans fill the stadium and cheer their team in the home opener against D.C. United in on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The game set an MLS attendance record.