Donadel urges Montreal to build on recent wins for upcoming Miami test

CF Montreal head coach Marco Donadel insists his side must build on their recent wins to climb up the Eastern Conference.

Montreal are currently bottom of the East, but have won two of their last three games to leave them within touching distance of Toronto FC and Atlanta United.

They beat New York City FC 1-0 and Houston Dynamo 3-1, on either side of a 3-1 defeat to FC Cincinnati in their last three matches, and Donadel was over the moon with their win over NYCFC.

"We need this kind [of game] to get something back from what we are working for," said Donadel.

"The players gave everything against every kind of difficulty. They really gave everything; they kept with the game plan. It was a very good performance.

"The sensation that the players gave me was that we were completely in control of the game until something happened, and then, when something happened, the players' reaction, because they were very confident, was to push."

Montreal left-back Luca Petrasso added: "The win is giving us a big boost, especially going in to play Miami at home, and then the Canadian Championship is coming up, which is very important for us."

Inter Miami return from Club World Cup action, having been the only MLS club to reach the knockout rounds of the tournament, but they ultimately lost 4-0 to Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16.

They currently sit sixth in the table, 11 points behind leaders Philadelphia Union, though they have played four fewer matches.

Head coach Javier Mascherano is confident Miami will benefit from the experience they got on the Club World Cup stage.

"There's a huge lesson to be learned from here," he said." We're going to be reviewing all of this, and I think that they go hand in hand now if we are going to be able to take stock of this experience.

"I think that this is going to help us [back in MLS]. It goes without saying that it depends on our own personal intelligence that we have at our disposal as a team to be able to leverage this experience."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

CF Montreal – Prince Osuwu

Prince Owusu has caught the eye for Montreal this season. He leads the club with seven goals, two of those having been the tone-setting first of the match.

The forward has scored three in his last three MLS matches, helping Montreal build some momentum.

Inter Miami – Lionel Messi

Miami's most productive player in attack has been Lionel Messi, who has scored on 10 occasions.

Messi has also registered five assists this season, with only three players directly contributing to more MLS goals this season.

MATCH PREDICTION – INTER MIAMI WIN

Prior to their current stretch, Montreal had won just one game over their 19 matches played in 2025 across all competitions (D6 L12).

Miami have scored at least three goals in six of their last eight league matches after doing so once in their first eight MLS matches of 2025.

In their last six league matches, Montreal have won two, drawn one and lost three. Inter Miami, meanwhile, have won two, drawn two and lost two in their last six.

Hosts Montreal will seek to address a poor run of results at home this season with three draws, five losses, and just one win in nine MLS contests.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

CF Montreal – 23%

Draw – 22.8%

Inter Miami – 53.0%