Making their first CONCACAF Champions Cup appearance since 2019, Sporting Kansas City host Inter Miami in the opening leg of their first-round tie at Children's Mercy Park on Tuesday.
SKC earned a place in this competition by finishing as US Open Cup runners-up in 2024, while the Herons are here after claiming the Supporters' Shield crown in the previous Major League Soccer (MLS) campaign.
Match preview
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Coming off their worst-ever regular season regarding points in 2024 (31) Peter Vermes will hope there is nowhere for his team to go but up from there.
The veteran head coach of Kansas City will have a very different squad to work with this time around after the front office let some of their regular mainstays leave during the off-season while adding some proven quality in the attacking third.
That said, it was not a great pre-season for the former two-time MLS Cup champions, who failed to win all six of their encounters, while they could not find the back of the net in their last three matches.
Last season, their biggest highlight was their run to the US Open Cup final, giving an experienced Los Angeles FC side all they could handle, losing 3-1 in extra time.
Six of their eight triumphs in the 2024 regular season came at Children's Mercy Park, while they earned points in two of their three home games versus Eastern Conference opposition.
In their previous appearance at the 2019 Champions Cup, they made it all the way to the semi-finals, winning two of their three matches played at Children's Mercy Park by a combined margin of 6-0.
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With the pre-season in the books, the Herons will focus on what promises to be a big campaign for them, beginning with the Champions Cup.
Javier Mascherano's men went unbeaten in the pre-season, winning two of their three matches played this month, with their last result being a 2-2 draw against Orlando City on Friday.
This will be their second consecutive appearance in this competition, with Miami losing out in the quarter-finals versus Monterrey a year ago (5-2 on aggregate).
On Tuesday, Miami have an opportunity to win an away contest in this tournament for the first time, losing 3-1 in Monterrey last April and coming back to claim a 2-2 draw at GEODIS Park against Nashville SC in early March.
In 2024, the Herons went undefeated against Western Conference clubs in MLS, and they have not lost to the opposite conference since mid-July of the 2023 domestic campaign (3-0 at St Louis City).
This will only be the third time they face Sporting in a competitive game, and Inter Miami won both previous meetings against them last year by a 3-2 score, one of which was in front of over 70,000 spectators at Arrowhead Stadium.
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Team News
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During the off-season, SKC added Dejan Joveljic, who led the MLS Cup-winning Los Angeles Galaxy with 21 goals in the 2024 regular season, while they also signed Mason Toye from the Portland Timbers, plus Manu Garcia and Shapi Suleymanov from Aris in the Greek Super League.
They said goodbye to veteran Johnny Russell, who was out of contract, and Alan Pulido returned to Mexico to sign with Chivas, while they did not renew the contracts of Remi Walter, Tim Melia or Robert Castellanos.
On the Miami side, there were four changes made to the squad for the match versus Orlando City as Gonzalo Lujan, Jordi Alba, Yannick Bright and Telasco Segovia replaced Ian Fray, Noah Allen, David Ruiz and Federico Redondo.
Goals from Tadeo Allende and Fafa Picault enabled them to end the 2025 pre-season with an undefeated record, thanks to the Haitian's strike in second-half stoppage time.
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Pulskamp; Leibold, Fernandez, Voloder, Bassong; Rodriguez, Radoja, Thommy; Afrifa, Joveljic, Salloi
Inter Miami possible starting lineup:
Callender; Weigandt, Fray, Martinez, Alba; Allende, Busquets, Redondo; Messi, Suarez, Taylor
We say: Sporting Kansas City 1-3 Inter Miami
Miami still look vulnerable at the back, but when you have Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez to counter that, it usually does not matter.
Therefore, we expect those two experienced strikers will overwhelm an SKC side that are still trying to gel as a unit with so many new faces.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
