Where to watch Inter Miami, Lionel Messi in Concacaf Champions Cup vs. Vancouver Whitecaps: Live stream, odds

A Major League Soccer club is guaranteed to be in the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals as Inter Miami will travel to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps in the first leg of the semifinals. The two best sides in MLS will clash to see who will meet Tigres or Cruz Azul, but they’ve gone about their business in different ways so far. Miami’s star power has shone with Lionel Messi leading the team, but they’ve also had strong performances by role players to make sure they still win while they aren’t at their best.

Vancouver lost arguably their best player in Ryan Gauld to injury, but Brian White has been on a tear, scoring at will for the Whitecaps. With nine goals in all competitions, he has also found himself on the United States men’s national team radar with his scoring exploits. Vancouver has been flexible under new manager Jesper Sorensen, and it has paid dividends, but they’re in for their toughest test yet.

Here are storylines, how you can watch the match, and more:

How to watch Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Inter Miami, odds

• Date: Thursday, April 24 | Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
• Location: BC Place — Vancouver, British Columbia
• TV: FS1 | Live stream: Fubo (Try for free)
• Odds: Vancouver Whitecaps +109; Draw +220. Inter Miami +200

Last meeting

These teams have only met once before in May of 2024. That match also took place at Vancouver’s stadium in BC Place, but Miami were able to win 2-1. Both goal scorers, Robert Taylor and Leonardo Campana, are no longer with the team, while Vancouver’s lone scorer, Gauld, will miss out with an injury. These teams have changed quite a lot in only a year, but looking at their results this season, it has been for the better. Lionel Messi will travel for this game, immediately changing the dynamic.

What the coaches are saying

Javier Mascherano may be new to Concacaf competitions, but he’s quickly understanding the gravity of these matches. The raw emotion could be seen on his face when his Herons engineered a comeback over Los Angeles FC to get here, but he’s immediately labeling this game as critical.

“This is a very important game for us, one of the most important in the history of the club,” Mascherano said. “We have a 180-minute game [over the two home-and-away legs] and Thursday is the first half. It is important that we play a good game and try to score as many goals as possible, because road goals are valuable in this competition. We want to have the ball, be protagonists.”

This is one of the biggest trophies that Inter Miami can win this season, and with away goals being a tiebreaker in this tournament, even a 1-1 draw in Vancouver would be a great result for Miami. Vancouver have been scoring for fun with 17 goals so far this season, so even Miami’s stout defense will be put to the test north of the border.

Can the Herons reach the top of Concacaf?

So far, only one MLS team has won this competition, the Seattle Sounders. Plenty of teams have come close, but it has been a show of Mexican dominance with Liga MX sides winning 17 of the last 20 titles. Costa Rican teams were able to win back-to-back in 2004 and 2005, while the Sounders won in 2022, but outside of that, it has been nothing but Liga MX. MLS sides have been able to make the final in three of the last five editions, which will continue this season, but this feels like one of their best chances to win Concacaf’s biggest club prizes.

Predicted lineups

Vancouver Whitecaps: Yohei Takaoka, Tate Johnson, Ranko Veselinovic, Tristan Blackmon, Edier Ocampo, Pedro Vite, Andres Cubas, Sebastian Berhalter, Ali Ahmed, Brian White, Emmanuel Sabbi 

Inter Miami: Oscar Ustari, Jordi Alba, Noah Allen, Maximiliano Falcon, Lujan, Telasco Segovia, Yannick Bright, Sergio Busquets, Benjamin Cremaschi, Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi

Player to watch

Brian White, Vancouver Whitecaps: Vancouver’s point man is having a season for the ages, and his teammates know just where he wants the ball. One of the best headers of a ball in MLS, White is going to be physical with the Miami defense, and if they can’t stop him, this game will be over quickly. Noah Allen is having an excellent season in defense, but this will be a massive test for him and the Herons. Even if White doesn’t score, his presence creates chances for others, so there will be the fine balance of keeping an eye on him in the attack while also respecting Vancouver’s other options.

Storyline to watch

Will Sebastian Berhalter or Lionel Messi dictate tempo? It feels absurd to say this, but between Berhalter and Vite, the Whitecaps have been able to knock the ball around with ease, and it will be tough to get it off of them for Miami. Berhalter is making his own name in soccer, while his father, Gregg Berhalter, is back in MLS with the Chicago Fire, but even Mascherano acknowledged his team’s need to control the tempo. They were lucky to defeat the Columbus Crew after losing the midfield battle to Darlington Nagbe, and repeating that performance will lead to the Herons losing in Vancouver.

Prediction

These teams will be tough to separate, with both being capable of scoring at any time but adept at defending. The goalkeepers will play a large role as anyone given an inch of space can make things happen, but the points will be shared in Vancouver. In a battle of the nines, both White and Luis Suarez will find the back of the net, but the points will be shared. Pick: Vancouver Whitecaps 1, Inter Miami 1

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