LET’S REACH A FINAL!! 😬💪🏽 After a rotated Orlando City SC side fell 5-1 at Nashville SC, focus now shifts to the biggest Sunshine Clásico yet! If we win at Chase Stadium this Wednesday, we’d not only reach our first-ever Leagues Cup Final. We’d qualify for the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup too! Already sweeping Inter Miami (0-3 and 4-1) this MLS regular season, Lionel Messi is back from injury and fired up to make amends.
Lose, and we’ll face LA Galaxy or Seattle Sounders in the Third Place Match with Champions Cup qualification still at stake. Martín Ojeda is fresh after being rested in Nashville. And Miami slayer Luis Muriel is available, with his one-game suspension not carrying over into Leagues Cup. Just 180 minutes separate City from a second MLS-era trophy, so let’s rise to the challenge!
Last time out
On Saturday, Orlando City SC saw their eight-game unbeaten run come to a crashing halt with a heavy 5-1 defeat away to Nashville SC at GEODIS Park. With Oscar Pareja opting for a heavily rotated lineup just days after our Leagues Cup quarter-final win over Toluca, the Lions looked second best from the outset. Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar each struck twice before half-time to put the hosts out of sight at 4-0. Orlando hit the post twice and created a handful of chances but were punished repeatedly for sloppy defensive play. Luis Muriel came off the bench to net a late consolation on 76 minutes, only to be sent off moments later in a moment of frustration. Interestingly, Martín Ojeda was an unused substitute, rested ahead of Wednesday’s Leagues Cup semi-final against Inter Miami. The result snapped Orlando’s four-game MLS winning streak and denied us the chance to leapfrog Nashville in the Eastern Conference standings. B. J. Callaghan’s side have had our number this season, also knocking us out of the U.S. Open Cup back in May. The one silver lining? FC Cincinnati, Inter Miami, and Columbus Crew all dropped crucial MLS points on Saturday, keeping us firmly in the top four race. With no time to rest, our focus now shifts to our make-or-break Leagues Cup semi-final with Inter Miami. It’s a huge opportunity to bounce back on one of the biggest stages.
Last head-to-head
On August 10, Orlando City SC thrashed Inter Miami 4-1 at Inter&Co Stadium. In front of a raucous sell-out crowd of 25,046, City celebrated Oscar Pareja’s birthday with their first-ever season sweep of The Herons! Not only leapfrogging them in the Eastern Conference, we extended Miami’s winless streak at Inter&Co to eight matches (0-4-4). 😏💪🏽 Miami slayer Luis Muriel scored twice, while Martín Ojeda and Marco Pašalić added one each. Muriel struck inside the opening 2 minutes, netting City’s fastest goal of the season. But Yannick Bright equalised soon after. Muriel then restored our lead early in the second-half before Ojeda and Pašalić sealed the win. Alex Freeman assisted for the second straight game, while Pedro Gallese made an audacious save to deny Luis Suárez from downtown. With 21 shots (12 on target) and sharp second-half finishing, Oscar Pareja’s side showed attacking flair and defensive grit. It was a statement rivalry win that will be remembered for a long time to come.
What’s at stake this time?
Now it’s simple – win and we’re in the 2025 Leagues Cup Final. Florida rivals Inter Miami stand in our way, making this the biggest Sunshine Clásico yet. We’ve already proven we can win at Chase Stadium, thrashing them 0-3 in May with Lionel Messi starting. He missed our 4-1 demolition of Miami on August 10, so expect him to be fired up for a second Leagues Cup title after 2023. Messi raises the challenge, but we have nothing to fear. Beyond bragging rights, the stakes are huge. Orlando City SC are 90 minutes from a 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup berth, with spots going to both finalists and the third-place playoff winner. Lose here and we’d face Seattle Sounders or LA Galaxy in the Third Place Match. Only back-to-back defeats would deny us qualification from here. Orlando last played the Champions Cup in 2024, and returning would underline our growth on the global stage. More importantly, the Lions are just 180 minutes from their second MLS-era trophy after the 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. With single-elimination stakes, any semi-final tied after 90 minutes will head straight to penalties – as we saw in phase one and the quarters. Finals don’t come around often, so let’s give this everything we’ve got! Lastly, Javier Mascherano is suspended for this game after being sent off against Tigres UANL. Despite his red, the Miami head coach used a cell phone to coach from the stands in the second-half. Clearly, Mascherano feels he’s above Leagues Cup protocol – but then again, when have Miami ever followed the rules? 😴
Opposition danger men
🇦🇷 Lionel Messi (19 goals, 10 assists – 2025 MLS)
🇺🇾 Luis Suárez (6 goals, 10 assists – 2025 MLS)
🇻🇪 Telasco Segovia (7 goals, 5 assists – 2025 MLS)
🇪🇸 Jordi Alba (2 goals, 8 assists – 2025 MLS)
New opposition faces
🇦🇷 Mateo Silvetti (Newell’s Old Boys)
Injuries
🇪🇨 Allen Obando (hamstring) – out
🇵🇪 Wilder Cartagena (right leg) – SEI
🇯🇵 Yutaro Tsukada (knee) – SEI
*SEI – Season-Ending Injury List (Unavailable)
Suspensions
🇦🇷 Javier Mascherano – one game (red card against Tigres UANL)
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Inter Miami vs Orlando City SC
Last 3 head-to-heads
- May 15, 2024: Orlando City SC 0 Inter Miami 0 (MLS)
- May 18, 2025: Inter Miami 0 Orlando City SC 3 (MLS)
- August 10, 2025: Orlando City SC 4 Inter Miami 1 (MLS)
2020/25 head-to-head stats
- It was 4-1 to Orlando the last time the sides met (August 2025)
- Played Inter Miami 15 times in MLS – Miami 4, Draws 4, Orlando 7
- Orlando have won the last 2 MLS head-to-heads by an aggregate score of 7-1
- Both sides have scored in Miami’s last 7 fixtures across all competitions
- Orlando have won 24 and lost 18 knockout fixtures since 2015*^†~+
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Key
* We counted our two-legged defeat to Tigres UANL (0-0 and 1-1) in the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 as one loss
^ We counted our MLS Cup Playoffs Best-of-3 series triumph over Nashville SC (2023) as one win
† We counted our two victories (0-3 and 3-1) over Cavalry FC in Round One of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup as one win
~ We counted our two-legged defeat to Tigres UANL (0-0 and 4-2) in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16 as one loss
+ We counted our MLS Cup Playoffs Best-of-3 series triumph over Charlotte FC (2024) as one win
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Watching the game
Inter Miami vs Orlando City SC will be shown live on Apple TV at 01:30 (GMT) on Thursday, August 28.
Remember, UK supporters can watch all of Orlando City SC’s 2025 MLS regular season fixtures by subscribing to Apple TV’s “MLS Season Pass”.
Subscribe now by clicking here.
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