TACTICAL PREVIEW: What can the Whitecaps expect from Lionel Messi, Inter Miami in CCC SFs - and how can they stop them?
It’s a monumental challenge.
Not only are the Vancouver Whitecaps getting set for their second-ever appearance in the semi-finals of the Concacaf Champions Cup, but they’re getting set to face quite a formidable opponent, too, as they get set to take on fellow MLS side Inter Miami CF.
Led by Lionel Messi, regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Miami enter this tie as overwhelming favourites, and for good reason - most have expected them to win this tournament from the day the bracket was drawn.
One of the most talented teams in MLS history, led by Messi and veterans such as Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, they have every reason to believe that they can lift the trophy, and nothing they’ve shown in the earlier rounds has changed that notion.
Plus, having suffered a frustrating end to the 2024 Champions Cup, where they fell to CF Monterrey 5-2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals, they seem to have extra motivation to win it all in 2025. They showed that in their 4-1 aggregate win vs. Sporting KC in round one, and continued that into a 4-0 aggregate win vs. Cavalier FC in the Round of 16 and a 3-2 aggregate win vs. LAFC in the quarter-finals.
MESSSSSI 🐐@InterMiamiCF takes one back! pic.twitter.com/fJAoPTCNYG
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) April 10, 2025
Yet, for the Whitecaps, all of that won’t bother them, as they, too, have been on quite the journey up until this point.
It all started with a 3-2 aggregate win vs. CD Saprissa in round one, and they followed that up with a 3-3 aggregate result vs. CF Monterrey (advancing on away goals) in the Round of 16 and a similar 3-3 aggregate result vs. Pumas UNAM (also advancing on away goals) in the quarter-finals.
Having been given low odds of getting past one Mexican club, let alone two, given their struggles against teams in that league in the past, they’ll be unfazed by a test from within their own circuit, especially given that they’ve also gotten off to a red-hot start to their MLS season.
Despite juggling the responsibilities of this competition, they’ve won six, drawn two and lost one of their first nine league games, putting them atop the Supporters Shield standings as of writing, which is quite remarkable.
Credit has to be given to their new head coach, Jesper Sørensen, for that - despite being just months into this new job, he’s already worked wonders with this team, and seems to have them on the precipice of a special season.
Thanks to a new tactical identity that prioritizes dominance on the ball, this Vancouver team has been excellent both offensively and defensively, sitting first in MLS in goals for and tied for first in goals against through the first eight weeks.
Now, however, they face arguably their stiffest test, as this Miami team will push the boundaries of what this Whitecaps system is capable of, especially defensively.
Because of that, here’s a look at three KEY tactical questions that the Whitecaps will have to answer in this tie, as they aim to reach their first Champions Cup final in club history.
How does Miami use Messi - and can the Whitecaps stop him?
Of course, it feels like the key to Miami’s success in this tie lies with Messi, as there’s no question that he stirs the drink for them, especially in big games.
Miami have proven to be pretty good without him - despite only playing in 19 out of 34 regular season games in 2024 (where he scored an eye-popping 20 goals and added 10 assists), they were still able to win the Supporters Shield, doing a good job of picking up results in the games he missed.
With him, however, they’re a different beast, as he continues to show - after a 23-goal and 13-assist campaign across 25 games in all competitions last year, he so far has eight goals and three assists in 11 games.
He’s saved his best work for the Champions Cup, too - he’s scored five goals and added one assist in his five Champions Cup games this year, and had two goals and one assist in the second leg of their quarter-final tie vs. LAFC, willing his team to a memorable comeback from down 2-0 on aggregate.
GOAL 🇦🇷
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) February 20, 2025
LIONEL MESSI gives Inter Miami a 1-0 lead on a cold night in Kansas City 🥶
Sergio Busquets picks out the Argentine with a cross and some Messi magic seals the strike ✨#ConcaChampions pic.twitter.com/HnOtjkLflv
When diving deeper, however, it leads to an important question - how does Miami actually use Messi?
Mostly, he’s been deployed as one of the front two in a 4-4-2, where he’s given free license to find space in the attack, either dropping deep to combine play or pushing high up the field to play more as a forward. Because of that, it's not uncommon to see him receiving touches anywhere in the central channel that goes from halfway line into opponents' boxes (it's rare to see him drift too far wide other than to take set-pieces).
That’s reflected in his 2025 heatmap, which is nearly identical to his heatmap from 2024 and 2023 with Miami, as well as his heatmap from his last season with Barcelona in 2019-2020 - they haven’t asked him to change a whole lot from what he’s done for club and country for the past half-decade, and rightfully so - part of the reason that Messi has had so much success in his 30s despite losing speed is that he’s learned how to be efficient with his movements. It requires a lot of sacrifice from his teammates, as he’s usually not as active a participant defensively, but he more than makes up for it with the contributions he provides at the other end.
Interestingly, however, one key detail that stands out is that Messi has had to adapt his play slightly to deal with MLS. Given his stature, he attracts a special kind of attention from defenders, which means that he’s touching the ball a lot less than before.
Just look at his last four seasons in Europe, and compare them to his first three in North America - in 2019/2020, he averaged 87.4 touches per game in La Liga and 74 touches per game in the Champions League for Barcelona, in 2020/2021 he averaged 91.6 touches/game in La Liga and 101.7 touches/game in the Champions League for Barcelona, in 2021/2022 he averaged 78.1 touches/game in Ligue 1 and 81 touches/game in the Champions League for PSG, and lastly, in 2022/2023, he averaged 81.8 touches/game in Ligue 1 and 74 touches/game in the Champions League for PSG.
By comparison, he averaged 49.7 touches a game in his first half-season in MLS in 2023, before averaging 66.9 touches a game in the 2024 MLS season and 64.5 so far in the 2025 MLS season - he also averaged 58.3 touches a game in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup and 62 touches a game in this year’s edition - showing that he’s not touching the ball as much as before. (All touch data via SofaScore).
While that’s surprising to see at first glance, as Miami are arguably even more dependent on Messi than either PSG or Barcelona were, but it makes sense when you consider that PSG and Barcelona’s opponents had other threats to deal with - such as Kylian Mbappé and Neymar on PSG and the litany of talents Messi had throughout his Barcelona career - which made it impossible to just focus on Messi in those games without risking getting torn apart by those other players.
On Inter Miami, however, other than Suárez, threats of that calibre aren't there, so opponents are much more comfortable in limiting Messi’s touches and letting his teammates get on the ball more.
Is that the right approach? Hard to say, given that Messi and Suárez are still producing, with Suárez scoring 25 goals and adding 12 assists in all competitions last year to go along with Messi’s gaudy numbers, and teams still got torched by Miami’s depth, as there were six players not named Messi or Suárez who had at least 10 goal contributions in 2024, with Jordi Alba hitting 20 (which is ridiculous for a full back, by the way). ![[fb Charts] Lionel Messi](https://storage.googleapis.com/canpl/assets/9d894377-719f-4142-91b3-ee6a6f06ea87.png)
Lionel Messi's MLS stats from 2024 compared to his peers. As seen by the number of stats in the 90th percentile, he was pretty dominant (FBRef).
Yet, that just shows what the Whitecaps will have to deal with. Ideally, you limit Messi’s involvement in this game, keeping his touches low (especially in and around the box), but you must do so without leaving too much room for his teammates, as even if Messi gets the ball while surrounded by multiple players, he can often dribble, pass or even shoot his way out of trouble.
Miami knows that, so they do their best to provide constant movement on and off the ball for him, doing what they can to get him the ball as often as possible, knowing that he can make magic happen when he gets it.
To sum it up, however, it’s exactly what Argentina have done to great success over the past five years, where they’ve won a World Cup and two Copa América titles - there, they often let Messi play in a free role in a 4-4-2, and make sure to provide him with lots of on and off-ball running, letting him do what he does best when he gets the ball.
Messi's last 75 shots for Inter Miami, giving a further idea of where he's getting to on the pitch (WyScout).
When describing Messi’s role with Miami, it’s the same, which perhaps shouldn’t be surprising given the arrival of his countryman Javier Mascherano as head coach this offseason, as that was one of the many things Miami has done over the past 18 months to maximize the effectiveness of their #10.
How does one exploit Miami’s key weakness?
Given Messi’s effectiveness, it’s not surprising to see that Miami have been an offensive juggernaut - they scored a league-leading 79 goals in 34 regular season games last year, averaging well over two goals a game, and have 13 goals in their first eight games of this year’s MLS season.
It’s worth noting that they’ve been a pretty middling team in terms of generating xG, both this year and last year, but that’s not something they’ll worry about - when you have players like Messi and Suárez, you don’t need the same quality of chances to score goals as other teams.
Despite those offensive skills, however, they haven’t found the same success on the other side of the ball, which is something that the Whitecaps will look to exploit. The 49 goals that Miami conceded in last year’s regular season was ninth in MLS, and while they’ve been better so far in 2025, conceding just six goals in eight games, there are a few trends to watch out for.
In particular, it’s worth noting that Miami aren’t the most intense team in terms of their defensive application, as for them, their best defence is a good offence.
Quinn Sullivan assist 🍽️
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 30, 2025
Daniel Gazdag finish 💯@PhilaUnion pull one back. pic.twitter.com/rmDP3QLTAj
Considering that they’re averaging over 56.36% of possession so far in 2025 (all competitions) after averaging just over 54% in that statistic last year, it’s clear that Mascherano has pushed them to be more dominant on the ball, knowing that.
One just has to look at their defensive struggles from last year to know why they’ve made that tweak - Miami allowed 1.54 xG on 12.54 shots per game in 2024, which shows that they allowed quite a few chances. Not only that, but their PPDA (passes per defensive action) was 11.19 per game, showing that they didn’t press a whole lot, either.
What they did well, however, was dropping deep and keeping opponents away from their goal - with opponents' average shot distance being over 18 yards, which was among the best in MLS.
GOOOAAL LAFC!
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) April 3, 2025
Ordaz breaks the deadlock 🔥 pic.twitter.com/M2IHT0Zou9
In 2025, their improved possession numbers have already had an impact on their defensive play - they’ve allowed an average of 1.31 xG on 10.64 shots per game, and their opponents’ shot distance is down to 17.74, which are positive increases, even if their PPDA has gone up slightly, to 12.18.
Interestingly, they’ve been trending in the wrong direction in recent matches - in five of their first seven matches in all competitions, they held opponents to less than one xG, with a 1.01 xG showing from Cavalier in leg 1 of the Round of 16 and a 1.11 xG showing from Sporting KC in leg 2 of round one the lone expectations.
Recently, however, they’ve allowed 1.46, 1.83, 1.37, 1.91, 2.88, 1.66 and 1.92 xG in their last seven games, in which they’ve allowed an average of 14 shots against, showing how much things are slipping. 
Inter Miami's xG against from this season, in chronological order from left to right, with the red line representing their average of 1.31 xG against per game (WyScout).
Because of that, it’ll be important for the Whitecaps to find a way to exploit that, as it feels like this Miami backline is ripe to be exposed. Their quarter-final vs. LAFC showed that, as LA had over four xG on 28 shots across both legs, but they weren’t able to capitalize on that, as their finishing let them down in key moments.
In particular, Miami can be prone to be hit on the counter, given the numbers they throw forward in possession, and don’t appear to have a lot of speed at the back, so look for the Whitecaps to use their wingers, such as Ali Ahmed, Emmanuel Sabbi and Jayden Nelson, to try and exploit that.
LATTE LATH GETS ATLANTA ON THEIR FEET 🧨
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 16, 2025
Brooks Lennon finds the most expensive signing in MLS history.
📺 #MLSSeasonPass or Apple TV+: https://t.co/9ZNN964gvh pic.twitter.com/AU2HYHKQmf
Can the Whitecaps exert required control on both sides of the ball?
Speaking of the Whitecaps, however, what’s most fascinating about this matchup with Miami is their style of play, as it’ll be interesting to see how Sørensen’s system copes with what Miami can offer.
One thing is for sure - if the Whitecaps can play to their potential, this should be a fascinating tie.
The numbers speak for themselves - the Whitecaps are currently second in MLS in goals for and first for goals against, as they’ve been dominant on both sides of the ball. Their numbers are sustainable, too - they’re also second in xG for and first in xG against so far in 2025.
Thanks to their newfound on-ball dominance (they’re currently fourth in MLS in possession after being bottom 10 in 2024), it’s changed the way they play in all phases of the game.
Is it a little early in the MLS season for comets? Yeah maybe. Is it time to do it anyway just to laugh incredulously at what the Whitecaps are doing? Hell yes
— John Muller (@johnspacemuller.com) April 15, 2025 at 11:29 AM
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On the ball, they do a great job of getting to the dangerous areas on the field, which is reflected in the fact that they average the second-most shots per game in MLS, and the second-best average shot distance, as they’re shooting often and from good areas.
GOAL 🏔️🏔️
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) April 10, 2025
THE WHITECAPS SCORE AGAIN! 🤯
Tristan Blackmon finds the in-game equalizer, the 3-3 aggregate AND the away goals advantage and #VWFC have minutes to go before clinching a semi-final berth in #ConcaChampions 🏆 pic.twitter.com/bfDTvI6XDl
Plus, they’ve done a great job of keeping consistent with that approach no matter the opponent, too - in their six Champions Cup games, they’re averaging 1.46 xG for and 1.28 xG against, and hold 55% of the ball on average, which is impressive given the level of opposition they faced in those six matches.
That’s just part of the reason why their possession-based play has worked so well, though - the other side has been what they do defensively, as they also use the ball to defend. In particular, they do a great job of keeping it high up the pitch and avoid making silly turnovers in dangerous areas, giving away the sort of transition moments that teams can punish them for.
You combine that with a solid press and a good defensive shape, and that’s proven to be an excellent mix, hence their strong defensive numbers in MLS play, which have continued in CCC, where the Whitecaps have kept opponents to an average of 44% possession, 10.5 shots per game, 3.79 passes per possession and an average shot distance of almost 21 yards (in MLS they’re keeping opponents to an average of 44.48% possession, 7 shots per game, and an average shot distance of 17.77 yards).
Because of that, look for them to try and win the possession battle in this tie, which could give them a big edge. The less Miami holds the ball, the more Messi will have to defend, which is a lose-lose proposition - either he expends valuable energy on defending if he’s engaged, or he’ll put his team at a disadvantage if he employs a more passive approach to save energy for the attack.
Yet, that’s the big strength of this Whitecaps team - their possession allows them to control all phases of the game, taking away some of the volatility a typical game can provide. Against a Miami team that thrives in that chaos, the Whitecaps will want to keep that control, as that’s where their best chance of winning will come from.
GOAL 🏔️
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) April 10, 2025
OH MY, SEBASTIAN BERHALTER 😱
The Vancouver Whitecaps go up 1-0 over Pumas UNAM (2-1 on aggregate) AND get an away goal in this #ConcaChampions QF Leg 2 🏆
🔴 Watch #VWFC on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/QpsNmHGWNE
It won’t be easy, especially against a Miami team that will also want to hold onto the ball, but that gives an idea of where this tie will be won and lost - in the possession game.
Given what the Whitecaps have shown so far, they’ll feel confident in their ability to win that battle, and then from there, they’ll hope they can execute in key moments and catch Miami by surprise en route to a massive upset, keeping this magical journey going.
