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CF Montreal Recap - No Messi, No Problem (July 25th 2026)

Credit: MLSoccer.com

Montréal

Inter Miami

CF Montreal loses 1-0 again to the Messi-less Inter Miami FC with a Luis Suarez penalty shot. Today, we will break down the events leading up to the game and the actual match. Let's go

CF Montreal Coming In.

After the absolute embarrassment that was the 1-0 defeat to Nashville SC, this CF Montreal team is looking to generate some offence, and this Inter Miami Team could be the team to do it.

The team's offence has been struggling mightily the last couple of games, and it was very evident. The lack of Wiki Carmona has been very obvious, as there has been a lack of flair on one side.

However, the emergence of Hennadiy Synchuk has been a great sign so far, and all fans hope he can continue to emerge; once Wiki is back, there is a big three of Wiki, Owusu, and Synchuk.

CF Montreal is very much praying that the week defence

Inter Miami Coming In.

The biggest blow for this game is that Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul will not be available for this match.

Casemiro will be available for this match, which is a big boost for this Inter Miami lineup. He will make his debut for Inter Miami in midfield today.

As for their recent form, Inter Miami has been rolling, picking up a 3-2 win vs. the Chicago Fire and Robert Lewandowski.

They will seemingly be the favourites to come away with the win in this match.

Lineups

CF Montréal (4-3-3): Sébastian Breza; Luca Petrasso, Brayan Vera, Efrain Morales, Dawid Bugaj; Victor Loturi, Samuel Piette, Matty Longstaff; Daniel Rios, Prince Owusu, Hennaddiy Synchuk

Inter Miami CF (4-4-2): Rocco Rios Novo; Sergio Reguilón, Micael, Ian Fray, Facundo Mura; Mateo Silvetti, Telasco Segovia, Casemiro, Yannnick Bright; Luis Suárez, Germán Berterame

The Game

The game itself was very entertaining for both sides, with both able to generate a lot of offence.

It started off very offensively for CFMTL, as they put a lot of pressure on the team. In the 2nd minute, a ball went past Prince Owusu in the box, and Daniel Rios wasn't able to get a clean shot off as it hit off the Miami defender.

The pressure doesn't end there, as in the 4th minute, Prince Owusu gets a clean shot off across on goal that falls perfectly into Daniel Rios' lap for an open-net tap-in that he completely misses wide. I mean, legitimately completely hits it wide. It was horrible to watch up close, but there was still a lot of game left.

The rest of the half was mostly back-and-forth action as both teams were able to generate a lot of chances. Siviletti and Segovio for Inter Miami had identical shots outside the box that went off the crossbar and over the net, respectively.

After the half, Montreal just kept generating chance after chance as they demolished this Inter Miami defence. Prince Owusu should have had 2 goals by now.

At the 70th minute, a very scary scene happened in the CF Montreal box. German Berterame was going up for a header in the box, but Efrain Morales runs and jumps with him and completely elbows him in the head. Berterame falls to the floor and loses consciousness. The ambulance and medical team worked diligently to rush him to the hospital for care. Inter Miami coach Hoyos has stated that he is in stable condition. Everyone at The Asterisk wishes German Berterame a well and speedy recovery.

As the game resumes in the 81st minute, Luis Suarez hits a panenka penalty shot that goes in 1-0. He celebrates by holding up Berterame's jersey which is a great gesture.

After this goal, CF Montreal continuted to tackle on alot of pressure. There was chances after chances but they could just not finish. Prince Owusu was given many chances in the box but he wasn't able to turn around and score.

The match was given 13 mintues of extra time and in the 9th extra minute, Rios Novo almost makes a dire mistake again as he passes it straight to Owusu, who just skies it to the side and Miami mops up the mess.

The final whistle blows and Inter Miami get the win 1-0.

Personal Thoughts

I was actually in attendance today and to keep it light, the amount of Inter Miami "fans" was scary. I saw more Messi shirts for a guy who didn't even play today. It's sad to see this as many Montreal fans complain that the team is not competitive or willing to spend money but actively support another team.

I want to see CF Montreal come out in waves and support the team no matter what like other diehard fanbases. This is never the case as I only saw black and pink. I even saw more Argentina jerseys than CF Montreal jerseys. It's sickening.

The CF Montreal ultras agreed with my thoughts as they had a sign saying "Support Your Local Club" in French. It sucks but its the reality of a team having one of the best soccer players in the world, neverthelness the G.O.A.T of the sport.

Casemiro

Enough with my personal opinios, heres some actual match analysis. Casemiro made his debut today like perviously mentioned and he was sound defensively.

You aren't going to see Casemiro making insane plays or driving play with staggering runs and flair, but he will be a rock defensively that can slow down the game and build-up play. That's what he was able to do today.

This helped the middle as it was rock solid the entire game despite the lackluster defense. Once they got past Casemiro they basically had a free chance for a shot on net.