Home-field advantage to be tested vs. CF Montreal
Inter Miami CF’s Wednesday night matchup versus CF Montreal might be the first time their opponents feel just at home at DRV PNK Stadium as they do.
Inter Miami have been temporarily sharing their training facility and stadium with CF Montreal, previously known as the Montreal Impact, to start the 2021 season because of travel restrictions between Canada and the U.S. due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Montreal enters Wednesday’s matchup (7:30 p.m. on MyTV33) playing the same amount of games (two) at the Fort Lauderdale stadium so far this season as the hosts and have had over a month to get used to South Florida’s humidity and heat.
“We were having a joke about it in the locker room whether this was a home or away game,” midfielder Jay Chapman said.
However, Inter Miami will still have a reduced capacity of up to 8,000 fans cheering them on inside their home stadium.
“It’s definitely a home game for us,” Chapman continued. “Yeah, they’ve been here training, but they haven’t been here for as long as us. This is our home. Maybe they’ll be a little more acclimatized than any other year, but it’s still our home. The majority of us have been playing here a lot longer than they have.”
Inter Miami (1-1-2, five points) are coming off two days of rest heading into their first mid-week game of the year after playing Atlanta United FC to a 1-1 draw on Sunday at DRV PNK Stadium.
“It’s definitely one of those weeks where you kind of have to mentally be strong for,” Chapman said. “We have a lot of guys who have a lot of experience in the league, and even the young boys — I’ve noticed they’re very mature, focused and are picking up on the things the veterans are putting out there. Everybody knows what it takes in these tough three-game stretches in one week. There’s nobody making excuses for a condensed schedule in the heat.”
CF Montreal (1-1-2, five points) are coming off a 2-0 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday in Sandy, Utah.
Similar to Inter Miami, CF Montreal strive on counterattacks and try to take advantage of their speed in transition, but they haven’t scored in five halves.
“I’ve watched them live against Toronto and the last game against Vancouver — they play a brilliant style of football,” Inter Miami coach Phil Neville said. “They got a good system where they provide width and jump forward to press. They got real good speed upfront. It’s going to be a real tactical game between two teams that play similar types of football.”
Inter Miami will be without starting center back/right back Nico Figal and starting left winger Robbie Robinson due to hamstring injuries. Neville said backup center forward Julian Carranza (vertigo) and starting right back Kelvin Leerdam (undisclosed injury) are “50-50” for Wednesday.
Blaise Matuidi is “fine,” per Neville, and will start versus CF Montreal after taking a hard hit to the ribs from Santiago Sosa in the game versus Atlanta United that forced the French midfielder to leave the game.
Neville said he continues to go back-and-forth about whether he should start Federico Higuaín or continue to use him as a sub after his strong performances so far this year.
“That’s a decision me and the technical team are talking about all the time to get the best out of him,” Neville added. “It’s about getting the right people on the pitch to suit the tactics in the game.”