CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP
Who do Inter Miami play in the CONCACAF Champions Cup?
The Heron’s Round of 16 fixture has not been confirmed but it’s almost certainly an all-MLS clash for Lionel Messi’s side.
For the first time in team history, Inter Miami are competing in the CONCACAF Champions Cup this season.
The Herons’ astonishing run to the 2023 Leagues Cup ensured qualification to the pan-continental competition, with the strongest sides in North and Central America battling it out. Miami were one of five teams to receive a bye to the Round of 16, meaning that they miss out on the Round One fixtures.
Inter Miami’s Round of 16 fixture will see them play the winner of Nashville SC and Moca, of the Dominican Republic. The MLS side won the first leg 3-0, meaning that Nashville will almost certainly be Inter Miami’s first-ever opponents in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Can Inter Miami win the CONCACAF Champions Cup?
The Herons have made a decent, if unspectacular, start to competitive action this year. They opened their MLS campaign with a good 2-0 victory over Real Salt Lake but needed a bit of good fortunate and a late leveller from Lionel Messi to steal a point against LA Galaxy last weekend.
They look strong in some areas but vulnerable in others, a situation not helped by a series of injuries to young players. The likes of Benjamin Cremaschi and Facundo Farias were expected to get major game time in 2024 to aid Miami’s ambitions on multiple fronts. Both are now long-term absences.
Even with those injuries Inter Miami possess one of the strongest squads of any CONCACAF side. Speaking earlier this month, Miami head coach Tata Martino revealed that the pan-continental tournament was a priority for the team this year.
“The ‘Concachampions’ is a great challenge and is possibly the most important tournament we will play in,” he said.
“It is also a different tournament from the league, because the league is so long that it allows you to make the odd mistake, the short tournaments and head-to-head matches allow you few or almost no errors.”
He’s not the only one thinking big in 2024. Off-season signing Luis Suarez was brought in to add the cutting edge that Miami previously lacked and he is eyeing success on multiple fronts to bring his illustrious career to a glittering close.
Suarez explained: “I think the best word that we have as players is ‘dream’. To dream big. Why not dream about winning all four titles? Obviously that will depend on us. We can talk all we want but we have to produce on the pitch, we have to sacrifice. Not just talk, but work. So the phrase I’d use again, is to ‘dream big’, Because why not?”