After winning the Supporters' Shield with a record-breaking points total, Inter Miami head into the MLS Cup playoffs with plenty of confidence, but so will first-round opponents Atlanta United.
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and company were the dominant side during the regular season, accumulating 74 points and winning 22 of their 34 matches. They head into Friday's contest at Chase Stadium on an 11-match unbeaten run in MLS.
The Herons are the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, while Atlanta snuck into the playoffs via the back door, finishing ninth in the regular season standings before edging out CF Montreal via a penalty shootout in the Wild Card round earlier this week.
Inter Miami have never won a playoff match since entering MLS in 2020, but given the array of world-class talent within their squad coupled with their dominant showing during the regular season, that is a record that should change this year.
Tata Martino's side are rightly the -225 favorites to triumph outright in this game, as not only did they comfortably win the Supporters' Shield, but they did so by racking up the most victories (22) and scoring the highest number of goals (79).
The Herons also ended the regular season with three straight wins, including last weekend's 6-2 thrashing of New England Revolution, but even with all that being said, they are not guaranteed to brush aside Atlanta with ease.
Atlanta may have just squeezed into the playoffs, but they are a team in form, losing just one of their last seven matches. Plus, they are unbeaten in their last three meetings with Inter Miami, including a 3-1 win in Florida in May.
That was one of just four regular-season defeats Inter Miami suffered during 2024, but that does not mean Martino's side have dominated every other team they have played - far from it in fact.
They have had to come from behind to win on an eye-watering nine occasions.
The most recent of those comeback successes was against New England when they went 2-0 down after 34 minutes before storming back to win 6-2 - largely thanks to a hat-trick from Messi and a Suarez brace.
Inter Miami can be slow starters and do not be surprised if in-form Atlanta opens the scoring.
However, there were 34 points between these two sides in the standings by the end of the regular season for a reason, so the hosts' quality should ultimately shine through.
Inter Miami were the leading scorers during the regular season, with Messi and Suarez both netting 20 goals apiece. Yet they by no means boasted the best defense, as they conceded 49 times in 34 matches, the same number as ninth-placed Atlanta.
The Herons head into Friday's game having kept just one clean sheet across their last eight matches, with five of those contests featuring at least four goals including the 2-2 draw they played with Atlanta last month.
Recent meetings between these two sides have certainly tended to yield plenty of goals, with four or more having been struck across the last four encounters.
With Atlanta having also scored in seven straight games - netting twice in five of those - Friday's contest has all the makings of being a high-scoring affair.
Inter Miami have known they were heading for the playoffs for some time and that has allowed them the opportunity to manage the minutes of key players such as Messi and Suarez, but there should be no doubt that the former Barcelona duo will be starting on Friday.
That could mean bad news for Ecuadorian forward Leonardo Campana, who may have to make do with a place on the bench, but that does not mean he cannot have a major say on proceedings.
Messi and Suarez are 37 and one or both of them may not last the full 90 minutes, with Campana likely to be the first player on the bench that Martino turns to, particularly if his side needs a goal.
The 24-year-old has eight goals from just 14 starts in MLS this season, including scoring three in his last five appearances, one of which came in the recent 2-2 draw with Atlanta.
Campana now has three in his last three outings against the Five Stripes, so even if he does start the game on the bench, he has every chance of coming on to have the final and perhaps decisive say on proceedings.
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Inter Miami | -225 |
Draw | +375 |
Atlanta United | +550 |
Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) | -150 |
Luis Suarez (Inter Miami) | -125 |
Leonardo Campana (Inter Miami) | -110 |
Daniel Rios (Atlanta United) | +300 |
Jamal Thiare (Atlanta United) | +300 |
Saba Lobzhanidze (Atlanta United) | +375 |
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.