{"id":412454,"date":"2025-11-29T08:11:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T08:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/412454\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T08:11:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T08:11:34","slug":"inter-miami-host-nycfc-with-mls-cup-berth-on-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/412454\/","title":{"rendered":"Inter Miami host NYCFC with MLS Cup berth on the line"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Lionel Messi<\/a> in historic form and Inter Miami CF<\/a> bulldozing through the competition in the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs, many have the Herons as foregone favorites to host MLS Cup presented by Audi on Dec. 6.<\/p>\n

However, head coach Javier Mascherano does not count himself among that group.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve competed well so far, but we haven\u2019t achieved anything,\u201d Mascherano told reporters a day before Miami welcome New York City FC<\/a> to Chase Stadium in Saturday\u2019s Eastern Conference Final (6 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201c… Tomorrow\u2019s game will be very complicated. We\u2019re facing an opponent that\u2019s earned the right to play the Conference Final. An opponent that\u2019s won three playoff games on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 Our mentality and our vision for tomorrow have to be to go for it from the opening minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Masterful Messi (and Friends)<\/p>\n

All eyes will surely be on Messi from the opening minute.<\/p>\n

The iconic Argentine No. 10 has hit legendary levels in the playoffs, setting a new MLS record<\/a> with 12 goal contributions (six goals, six assists) in just four postseason games. His latest display was a 1g\/3a effort in Miami\u2019s 4-0 rout<\/a> at FC Cincinnati<\/a> in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.<\/p>\n

But it was far from a one-man show at TQL Stadium. Tadeo Allende<\/a> scored his second brace in as many games, and 19-year-old Mateo Silvetti<\/a> added a goal and a pair of assists to guide the Herons to their second straight 4-0 win.<\/p>\n

In four playoff games (Round One Best-of-3 Series vs. Nashville SC<\/a> and Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. FC Cincinnati), Miami have outscored their opponents 12-3, with Messi participating in all 12 tallies.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people can assume it\u2019s Messi against all these other teams, but that\u2019s not the case,\u201d noted NYCFC head coach Pascal Jansen. \u201cThey have great players, whoever they want to play in the starting XI. And Messi is a league of his own. That\u2019s clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n MLS Cup runs through Miami<\/p>\n

As the highest-ranked remaining team in the Supporters\u2019 Shield standings (No. 3 overall), Miami are guaranteed to host MLS Cup should they defeat NYCFC on Saturday.<\/p>\n

A win would see them take on either Thomas M\u00fcller<\/a> and Vancouver Whitecaps FC<\/a> or Anders Dreyer<\/a> and San Diego FC<\/a> on Dec. 6 at Chase Stadium. Those sides meet in the Western Conference Final on Saturday (9 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at home, with our fans. Like any team, we\u2019re stronger at home,\u201d said Miami left back Jordi Alba<\/a>. \u201cSo in that sense we\u2019re calm, excited about Saturday to be able to make our fans happy and ourselves happy, because I think the team has performed very well in the playoffs and we deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Alba in particular, lifting the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy would be especially poignant and meaningful. Both he and fellow legendary Spaniard Sergio Busquets<\/a> will retire at season\u2019s end, and would love nothing more than to go out as champions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re lucky enough to win, then we\u2019ll think about the next game, which is also at home,\u201d Alba said. \u201cI\u2019m confident we\u2019ll do well. Obviously many things can happen, but this year we have a lot of chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n NYCFC eye another upset<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s any team that can play spoiler on Saturday, it\u2019s NYCFC.<\/p>\n

The Cityzens have eliminated two higher-seeded opponents en route to the Conference Final, dispatching Charlotte FC<\/a> in Round One before ousting Supporters\u2019 Shield winners Philadelphia Union<\/a> in the Conference Semifinals.<\/p>\n

Remarkably, they\u2019ve done it by winning three games on the road despite injuries to key players like top scorer Alonso Mart\u00ednez<\/a> and midfielder Andr\u00e9s Perea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what we\u2019re up against. We obviously know their level of commitment and urgency to try to win the title, but we\u2019re in the same boat,\u201d said left back Kevin O\u2019Toole<\/a>. \u201c\u2026 We give them a proper amount of respect, but we can\u2019t overdo it. And we need to play our game and impose our will on the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Toole was among the highlights of NYCFC\u2019s 1-0 defeat<\/a> of the Union. Club legend Maxi Moralez<\/a> scored the lone goal and USMNT<\/a> goalkeeper Matt Freese<\/a> posted his third clean sheet of the playoffs to stun the Subaru Park crowd and send the Cityzens to their third Conference Final since their MLS Cup-winning 2021 campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve kind of relished playing in the away environments this year and really enjoyed those hostile environments and silencing crowds,\u201d O\u2019Toole said, hoping to repeat the feat at Chase Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think the team has kind of developed that identity, and it\u2019s something that we look forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With Lionel Messi in historic form and Inter Miami CF bulldozing through the competition in the Audi 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":412455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,6074,100872,193820,139649,405,403,41878,5226,5225,5228,5227,37638,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-412454","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-inter-miami-cf","10":"tag-match-previews","11":"tag-miavsnyc-11-29-2025","12":"tag-mls-cup-playoffs","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-new-york-city-football-club","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkcity","18":"tag-ny","19":"tag-nyc","20":"tag-sendtonews","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115631979821419752","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}