Only one spot in the last 16 of Concacaf Champions Cup remains as the New England Revolution will face Independiente de La Chorrera on Thursday night as teams have been booking their spots in the last 16 for the past few weeks. In the round of 16, teams who have yet to play will be awaiting opponents.
One of those teams that was notably awaiting an opponent is Lionel Messi's Inter Miami. Due to winning the Leagues Cup, the Herons qualified automatically for the round of 16 where they'll face Nashville SC. Defeating Moca FC 7-0 on aggregate, Nashville will bring a rematch of the Leagues Cup final where Miami got he better of the Nashville once.
Miami weren't the only team that in the round of 16 awaiting an opponent as the Columbus Crew, SV Robinhood, LD Alajuelense, and CF Pachuca all qualified. Looking at the start of the season for the Herons, while they're undefeated in their first two matches after defeating Real Salt Lake and drawing against the Los Angeles Galaxy, it's a good thing that they were able to shave two matches off of the early season schedule.
Sergio Busquets looked off the pace in those first two matches and Julian Gressel needs more time to integrate into the side while talented youngster Federico Redondo will get more time to get visas in order to make his debut after signing from Argentinos Juniors. Tata Martino is focused on winning Champions Cup as it will give Miami a place in the Club World Cup against the world's best so not kicking off this tournament until March 7 does help at this stage of the season.
It's always a struggle for MLS clubs in the tournament as they're just kicking off their seasons but not only will Miami likely face an MLS side that they're familiar with but they will also have played three competitive matches by then to get back up to game speed. All eyes will be on the Herons in everything that they do but this will be their most important match of the season so far as starting the Champions Cup with a multi-goal victory will give Martino more time to rest players, especially veterans, in the early stages of the season.
