Inter Miami face the toughest test of their young season as the battered and bruised Herons welcome Liga MX giants Monterrey to their South Florida home for the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal.
Having trained the day before, Lionel Messi is expected to return for Inter Miami after missing the last two weeks with a hamstring injury that kept him sidelined for Argentina international duty to conclude March. Yet Inter Miami are missing a host of other players with fitness concerns, as the MLS club faces a daunting task.
Monterrey, the 2021 CONCACAF title winners, sit second in Liga MX, just a hair off the league lead via goal differential, and present a very steep challenge for Inter Miami boss Tata Martino. The Mexican club boasts a fully fit squad, which includes former FC Cincinnati striker Brandon Vazquez who would love nothing more than to down another former league opponent after knocking off his old club in the previous round.
The Sporting News is following the Inter Miami vs. Monterrey match live, providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.
Inter Miami vs Monterrey live score
| Score | Goal scorers | |
| Inter Miami | – | – |
| Monterrey | – | – |
Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT
Location: Chase Stadium (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
Referee: Walter Enrique Lopez Ramos
Starting lineups (predicted):
Inter Miami (4-3-3, right to left): Callender (GK) — Weigandt, Aviles, Freire, Alba — Gressel, Busquets, D. Gomez — Messi, Suarez, Taylor.
Monterrey (4-4-2, right to left): Andrada (GK) — Aguirre, E. Gutierrez, Vegas, Arteaga —Cortizo, Canales, Romo, Meza — Berterame, Vazquez.
Inter Miami vs Monterrey live updates, highlights, commentary
2 hours to kickoff: Lionel Messi missed a pair of Inter Miami matches and two for Argentina while recovering from a hamstring injury suffered in the previous Champions Cup round against Nashville SC. After training on Tuesday, Messi is expected to return for today’s match — a massive boon to an Inter Miami squad that has a number of other players still sidelined with various fitness concerns.
Messi returns to training for Miami ahead of the Concacaf Champions Cup against Monterrey. Nicolas Freire with the group as well but no signs of Kryvtsov pic.twitter.com/p9aXfMg2EF
— Lizzy Becherano (@lizzy_becherano) April 2, 2024
Inter Miami vs Monterrey stats
- Inter Miami have just two clean sheets in nine matches this season across all competitions, coming in their first two MLS games of the year. In those two shutout wins against Orlando City and Real Salt Lake, the opponents combined to miss with 26 shots worth a total of 1.58 xG.
- Monterrey have won their first four CONCACAF Champions Cup games against Comunicaciones and FC Cincinnati by a combined 10-2 score. Across the last three-plus seasons dating back to the start of their last title run in 2021, Monterrey have won 10 of their last 11 games in this competition, plus one draw and no defeats.
- Luis Suarez has 12 goals contributions (7 goals & 5 assists) in nine matches this season for Inter Miami across all competitions, which is already more than half of the 23 (16 goals & 7 assists) collected by Lionel Messi in 19 matches since joining the MLS club.
Inter Miami vs Monterrey lineups, team news
Lionel Messi is reportedly targeting this match for a return after missing multiple weeks with an injury, but it’s unclear whether he will be fit to start or just appear as a substitute. However, Messi is far from the only injury concern in this ravaged Inter Miami squad.
Midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi is down for another few weeks after hernia surgery before the season began, and Facundo Farias will miss the season after tearing his ACL in preseason. Those players have been out since the start of the campaign, but there are recent injuries that have caused further strain.
New signing Federico Redondo went down recently with a meniscus tear in his knee and will miss two months, while aging defender Serhiy Kryvtsov suffered a hamstring injury and is out for a few weeks. Kryvstov was only seeing the field thanks to a hamstring injury to Nicolas Freire, who is close to a return but his availability for this match remains unclear.
The absentee list is so bad that Sergio Busquets had to play center-back in their draw with NYCFC last weekend, but Tomas Aviles played 25 minutes off the bench in that game and should be fit to start here.
Inter Miami projected starting lineup (4-3-3): Callender (GK) — Weigandt, Aviles, Freire, Alba — Gressel, Busquets, D. Gomez — Messi, Suarez, Taylor.
Inter Miami subs (9): (Lineups released one hour prior to kickoff)
Mexican internationals Luis Romo, Jesus Gallardo, and Gerardo Arteaga are the pillars in this squad, and they added significant talent in the offseason with the arrivals of Jorge Rodriguez from Estudiantes, Sergio Canales from Real Betis, and Brandon Vazquez from FC Cincinnati.
Along with fringe Mexico international Erick Aguirre and retired El Tri veteran Hector Moreno, this team is bursting with talent to the point where head coach Fernando Ortiz is finding it difficult to fit everyone in. Vazquez is forced to split time with Argentine striker German Berterame up front, especially as fitting both Rodriguez and Romo in the midfield often means sacrificing an attacker.
With no known injuries to speak of, Monterrey have their full compliment of players to deploy however Ortiz sees fit.
Monterrey projected starting lineup (4-4-2): Andrada (GK) — Aguirre, E. Gutierrez, Vegas, Arteaga —Cortizo, Canales, Romo, Meza — Berterame, Vazquez.
Monterrey subs (9): (Lineups released one hour prior to kickoff)
How to watch Inter Miami vs Monterrey
| TV channel | Streaming | |
| USA | FS1, TUDN | Fubo USA, Fox Sports GO, TUDN app |
| UK | — | CONCACAF GO |
| Australia | — | CONCACAF GO |
| Canada | OneSoccer | Fubo Canada |
| India | — | FanCode |
USA: Fox Sports own the broadcast rights in the United States for the CONCACAF Champions Cup, and have placed this match on TV channel FS1. Additionally, a Spanish-language broadcast can be found on TUDN. Both channels are available to stream on Fubo USA, with a FREE trial available for new users.
Canada: OneSoccer has the broadcast rights to the CONCACAF Champions Cup in Canada, which is available to stream on Fubo Canada.
India: In India, the CONCACAF Champions Cup can be streamed on FanCode, including this match between Inter Miami and Monterrey.
International: In territories where CONCACAF has not sold broadcast rights for the competition to a particular partner, CCC games can be accessed on the federation’s official streaming platform CONCACAF GO. This includes in England, Australia, and other nations around the world.
