Last Thursday, when facing Miami, the Cavalier team showed the passivity that was quite predictable. They had possession of the ball for only 31% of the time, yet they managed to put up a tough fight for the majority of the match.

The players under Rudolph Speid's leadership truly gave the Herons a fright. Throughout the first half, they looked menacing during transitions and even hit the woodwork in the 33rd minute.

Ultimately, it seemed that the lack of individual skill levels made the decisive difference. Nevertheless, there were numerous positive aspects they could take from the first leg. For instance, they kept Miami from scoring for a whole hour.

Although this team had a great deal of appealing elements in their cohesive gameplay and defensive setup, achieving a victory by a two-goal margin appears to be an arduous task. Since the start of 2025, they have only won one domestic game by such a margin (a 3-0 win against Molynes United).

The Cavalier team has failed to secure a win in their six home matches this year, all of which were in the Jamaican Premier League. In four of those matches, they scored one goal or even fewer.

The last time they hosted a Champions Cup fixture at Independence Park, they suffered a 2-0 defeat against MLS side FC Cincinnati, conceding in both first and second-half stoppage time.

It was a lot harder than even they probably could have imagined, but Miami persevered and are in a strong position now to make a second successive trip to the last eight of this tournament.

Javier Mascherano's side only gave up one targeted effort and were able to maintain their 100% record in the competition this year.

Miami are riding a four-match winning run across all competitions into this game, posting back-to-back clean sheets after defeating Charlotte FC 1-0 in MLS play on Sunday.

The Herons have never lost a Champions Cup tie when winning the opening leg but have also never won an away match in this tournament.

So far in 2025 though, Inter Miami have won their only two competitive fixtures played away from home, winning both matches by a combined margin of 5-1.

They have never won a CCC fixture when conceding the opening goal, losing once when drawing first blood at home to Monterrey in the quarter-finals a year ago (2-1).

There were five newcomers in the Cavalier starting 11 versus Miami last week who did not begin their previous domestic match, with Jerome Zidon McLeary, Adrian Reid, Jalmaro Calvin, Jamilhio Ritgers and Shaquille Stein all coming into the fold.

Vino Barclett was particularly sharp between the sticks, facing five targeted efforts and saving three in his side's spirited first leg performance.

Inter Miami have rested captain Lionel Messi for four successive encounters due to load management, while Marcelo Weigandt, Robert Taylor and Fafa Picault have hamstring strains and Maximiliano Falcon is doubtful because of a quad injury.

Tadeo Allende finally broke the deadlock in leg one, scoring on 61 minutes, before Luis Suarez made it 2-0 seven minutes from the end, with Oscar Ustari collecting a clean sheet, and the Argentine will be eligible to play on Thursday despite his red card in MLS action this past weekend.

Cavalier possible starting lineup:

Barclett; Smith, Laing, R. King, Ainsworth; Reid, Watson; Calvin, Atkinson, Auvray; Stein

Inter Miami possible starting lineup:

Ustari; Fray, Lujan, Martinez, Alba; Redondo, Busquets, Segovia; Gressel, Suarez, Allende