Inter Miami loses 3-1 to Vancouver (5-1 aggregate), ousted from Champions Cup semis

Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald on Apr 30, 2025

Published in Soccer

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Against steep odds, Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates showed up at Chase Stadium Wednesday night highly motivated to overcome a two-goal deficit against the Vancouver Whitecaps in the second and decisive leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal.

“Anything is possible, absolutely anything,” Miami coach Javier Mascherano said on the eve of the game.

But there would be no miraculous comeback on this night in Fort Lauderdale. Quite the opposite. Miami got its only goal early from Jordi Alba, lost 3-1 (5-1 aggregate), and was eliminated from the tournament.

It was Miami’s third loss in a row. The men in pink trudged off the field with their heads held down and went straight to the locker room, not stopping for the customary salute to the diehard “La Familia” fans in the north stands, who tried to will their team to victory.

As FC Barcelona teammates, Mascherano, Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba were part of one of the greatest comebacks in soccer history, rallying from down 4-0 against Paris Saint-Germain to win 6-1 in the 2017 Champions Cup Round of 16 and advance 6-5 on aggregate.

But they were not as fortunate this time.

“The first half, we were within one goal from tying and still had a chance, but in three or four minutes at the start of the second half, everything changed,” Mascherano said. “The opponent was much better than us. That is why they are in the final and we aren’t.

“I still feel we competed, and it’s hard to say this after losing 5-1. But we had a few chances, Tadeo [Allende] had an open chance that could have tied it. Our errors were very costly. We were facing a very good team, and if you make a mistake they are are going to punish you.

“We need to learn from the last week because obviously, the feeling we have is very, very bad. We have conceded more goals than we had in the past. But we cannot just cry, we need to push another step and improve. I think this team can do much better.”

Miami wasted no time mounting its comeback, closing the series gap to 2-1 as Alba scored in the ninth minute with a nice finish from the left side with an assist from Suarez. Messi got the sequence started with a long pass to Suarez.

The home crowd had reason to be hopeful at that moment and remained optimistic with a 1-0 halftime lead. But the Whitecaps were about to crush Miami’s spirit.

Brian White scored the equalizer in the 51st minute, and two minutes later, Miami’s defense was exposed again when Ecuadorean Pedro Vite’s goal gave Vancouver the lead. Then, at the 71-minute mark, Sebastian Berhalter (son of former U.S. national team coach Gregg Berhalter) made it 3-1. Vancouver took advantage of its speed in the counterattack, won duels and found scoring opportunities when Miami’s defense was caught flat-footed.

“We knew they had to go up high and could not wait, so we knew they’d play one on one on the last line and we knew we had a lot of speed there,” said Vancouver coach Jesper Sorensen. “We knew we could run with Miami. When we scored the first goal, it seemed our players relaxed a little bit and grew more confident.”

Inter Miami is the latest big-name team to fall to Vancouver, the top team in the MLS Western Conference. Before knocking off Messi and his high-priced teammates, the Whitecaps eliminated Mexican teams Monterrey and Pumas.

“Sometimes being an underdog can make it easier, you can play with a little more freedom,” Sorensen said. “This team has built belief and confidence. They are learning to control their emotions. ”

Miami needed to win by three goals in regulation to advance to the June 1 championship game, where a $5 million prize is on the line.

A 2-0 Miami win would have sent the match to extra time and penalties, if needed. If Vancouver scored even one goal in regulation, a Miami winning margin of two or less would not be enough. Vancouver would get the edge because away goals are the tiebreaker (Note: that rule does not apply in extra time).

Inter Miami was the fourth MLS team to lose a semifinal first leg by a 2-0 score on the road and none of the four were able to overcome the deficit.

Mascherano and his team drew on memories of their previous comeback victories, and came into the game with reason to be hopeful. They scored three second-half goals against LAFC to overcome a two-goal deficit in the Champions Cup quarterfinals earlier this month.

Also, Mascherano, Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba were part of one of the greatest comebacks in modern soccer history as FC Barcelona teammates. On Mar. 8, 2017, Barcelona overcame a four-goal deficit in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 against Paris Saint-Germain to win 6-5 on aggregate, the largest comeback in Champions League history.

But on this night, it was a very different ending.