Inter Miami faces a Montreal team energized by the arrival of Chilean star Alexis Sanchez, a former teammate of Leo Messi’s at FC Barcelona.

BOTTOM LINE: Inter Miami hosts CF Montreal in Eastern Conference play. Miami is 8-2-5 against Eastern Conference opponents. Miami is third in the Eastern Conference drawing 116 corner kicks, averaging 5.5 per game. Montreal is 5-8-4 against Eastern Conference opponents. Montreal is third in the league with 112 shots on goal, averaging 5.3 per game.

Inter Miami are looking to avoid a sixth-straight loss, while star signings could make their debuts.

Heading into Saturday’s home game against Montreal, Inter Miami has a record of 11-4-6 for 39 points and trails leader Nashville SC (15-2-4, 49 pts.) and the Vancouver Whitecaps (12-4-4, 40 pts.) in the Supporters’ Shield race with 13 games remaining in the regular season.

MLS made the announcement shortly before González was announced as the team's permanent head coach in a seemingly unrelated move.

Ahead of this Saturday’s MLS clash, Inter Miami shared an old clip of Messi scoring against Montreal. In it, the Argentine carries the ball a good distance into the opposition box, skipping past multiple defenders in the process before eventually scoring. Now, many fans have reacted to the post to express their admiration for Messi.

INTER MIAMI are set to appoint Lionel Messi’s ex-Argentina team-mate Kily Gonzalez as their new manager after Guillermo Hoyos’ brief spell as interim boss. David Beckham’s side

Lionel Messi's Inter Miami is one of the region's most prominent and eye-catching teams; however, their ticket to Concachampions 2027 is at risk.