PREVIEW: Inter Miami hopes to stop skid against Red Bulls

The Herons have lost their last three matches, crashing out of the Concacaf Champions Cup tournament in the process. The Pink & Black need a win tonight at home.

Despite a string of disappointing performances, including three-straight losses and elimination from Concacaf Champions Cup competition, first-year Inter Miami CF coach Javier Mascherano believes the Herons will succeed with his system. Chandan Khanna/AFP

‘We believe in what we’re doing’

Inter Miami (5-1-3, 18 points), fifth in the Eastern Conference, hosts the eighth-place New York Red Bulls (4-4-3, 15 points) at 7:30 p.m. ET tonight at Chase Stadium. The Herons are anxious to rebound after winning just twice in their last eight matches in all competitions.

Javier Mascherano, Miami’s first-year coach, said Friday he isn’t planning major changes to his tactics or lineup despite the team’s recent poor form.

“I’m not going to say everything was fine,” Mascherano said Friday, according to Miami Herald soccer writer Michelle Kaufman. “We’re out of [the Concacaf Champions Cup final] we had a huge desire to play. We lost three games in six days. That’s something this team had not experienced. And clearly, there are a lot of things to improve.”

The 40-year-old former center back, a friend and teammate of Herons’ captain Lionel Messi at Barcelona and on the Argentine national team, said he is “not going to go crazy….”

“It’s not that complicated. We must keep going on the path we were on and correct our mistakes,” he said. “We believe in what we’re doing.”

• WHO: Inter Miami (5-1-3, 18 points) vs. New York Red Bulls (4-3-3, 15 points)

• WHAT: Major League Soccer regular season

• WHEN: 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday

• WHERE: Chase Stadium, Fort Lauderdale

• TV: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+

• RADIO: Inter Miami — ESPN 106.3 FM (English), Deportes Radio 760 AM (Spanish)

• RADIO: New York — WFAN 66 AM/109.9 FM, ESPN New York 880 AM (English), ESPN New York 1050 AM (Spanish)

An April to forget

At the beginning of April, Inter Miami was soaring, with eight wins and a draw in all competitions. On April 2, Los Angeles FC beat the Herons 1-0 in its home leg of a Champions Cup quarterfinal tie.

Miami finished April with two wins, two draws and four losses in the busy month, including their current three-match skid. The Herons scored nine goals and conceded 12 in April’s eight outings. Six Miami goals came in just two matches; a 3-1 come-from-behind win against LAFC that lifted the Herons to a 3-2 aggregate win and put them through to their first-ever Champions Cup semifinal, and a 3-4 loss to FC Dallas last week after leading 3-1.

Beating Messi & Co.

Miami eventually beat LAFC in the Champions Cup quarterfinals, but veteran coach Steve Cherundolo provided a blueprint for beating the Pink.

Cherundolo neutralized Inter Miami’s Messi and Luis Suarez by packing the box to deny the former Barcelona teammates room to implement their “tiki taka” attack, which relies on off-ball cuts and quick, short passes close to goal.

When Los Angeles players got to the ball, they played direct, booting long passes downfield to start dangerous counter-attacks.

The strategy exposed the Herons’ seeming inability, or unwillingness, to attack defenses from the wings or vary the attack in any meaningful way, and the aggressive counters exploited Messi’s and Suarez’ well-known defensive limitations.

Every opponent in April deployed a version of Cherundolo’s plan for at least portions of matches. Mascherano hasn’t had an answer.

No Champions Cup, what’s left?

Vancouver Whitecap’s coach Jesper Sorensen used his team’s speed and confidence to easily dispatch Miami from the Champions Cup semifinals and will play Cruz Azul for the trophy on June 1.

Inter Miami had made winning the Champions Cup — the most important club competition in Central and North America and the Caribbean Islands — its top priority in 2025 after losing to CF Monterrey in last year’s quarterfinals.

That opportunity is gone, the disappointment still raw. But this talented Inter Miami side still could win hardware this season. The Herons are still comfortably on pace to qualify for the MLS Cup playoffs and earn a second Supporters Shield for compiling Major League Soccer’s best regular season.

Miami also will compete in the FIFA Club World Cup and the Liga MX/MLS Leagues Cup tournaments this summer.

But for the moment, La RosaNegra are focused firmly on Major League Soccer’s regular season.

“As of now, [MLS] is the only tournament we’re competing in until the Club World Cup,” midfielder Federico Redondo said according to a report by Jaime Uribarri at mlssoccer.com. “So we have to earn the most amount of points possible and get back to the top [of the standings], which is where we’re most comfortable.”

The Red Bulls

Sandro Schwarz coaches the Red Bulls, who rely on Emil Forsberg (3 goals, 2 assists) and Eric-Maxim Choupo -Moting (4 goals, 1 assist).

Goalkeeper Christopher Coronel may be the Bulls most-valuable player. He’s allowed just eight goals and has four clean sheets and 36 saves in 10 MLS matches.

Projected starters

INTER MIAMI — Ustari; Alba, Allen, Aviles, Fray; Bright, Redondo; Picault, Allende, Messi; Obando

RED BULLS — Coronel; Duncan, Nealis, Elie, Valencia; Carballo, Stroud; Harper, Forsberg, Carmona; Choupo-Moting