If there ever was a time to face Inter Miami, a match without Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul might be as good as it gets.

CF Montréal will look to shake off their five-game winless streak in MLS action on Saturday with a new face on their back line against an Inter Miami side missing Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul. While omitted from the league’s injury reporting, the Argentine duo and World Cup runners-up are continuing to rest following a grueling tournament.

Montréal have endured a roller-coaster of goals and defensive issues since their last win, a 2-0 result over Maxime Crépeau’s Orlando City on May 9. Despite scoring six goals in three games before the World Cup break, the run yielded two draws and one loss.

Since returning, Philippe Eullaffroy’s side have been blanked twice, including on Wednesday, when a dubious penalty gave Sam Surridge the opportunity to secure Nashville a 1-0 win.

Inter Miami, on the other hand, counted on a Luis Suárez brace as they came from behind twice to beat Robert Lewandowski’s Chicago Fire, 3-2. CanMNT goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair was benched for backup Rocco Ríos Novo, but could be back in the lineup on Saturday after the 24-year-old American whiffed on a simple-looking first half clearance.

Sitting 13th in MLS’ Eastern Conference, and perhaps, sensing some urgency, CF Montréal made a flurry of moves on Friday, starting with the addition of New England Revolution centre-back Brayan Ceballos for up to $850,000 in General Allocation Money. Montréal then flipped Dagur Dan Thórhallsson to San Diego for up to $650,000 in GAM, and added $275,000 more by trading an international roster spot to LAFC.

Ceballos, 25, featured heavily for New England at the start of the season, scoring a brace in a 6-1 win against Cincinnati in March. However, a brief injury saw him dropped for five matches before drawing back in at right-back in a 2-1 win over Minnesota on May 16.

With Ceballos in the line-up, the Revs registered five wins and three losses, and overall, are 4th in the Eastern Conference with a record of eight wins, two draws and five losses. The Colombian is expected to play a much larger role than defender Tomás Avilés, whose unsuccessful Montréal loan was cut short after six months.

On Thursday, Canadian youth international defender Aleksandr Guboglo also departed Montreal for France, joining Ligue 2’s Stade Reims on loan. He is expected to join Reims’ reserve team for now, though a purchase option was also included in the deal.

More to come.