Inter Miami will face Florida rivals Orlando City in the opening match of the MLS is Back tournament.
Diego Alonso’s men will return from the three-month coronavirus break with their first ever competitive rivalry match after being placed into Group A for the competition, which is based at Walt Disney World Orlando’s ESPN World of Sports.
Group A is the only six-team group in the competition but each team will still only play three group stage games, just like the other five groups, which are made up of four teams. Groups A through C are made of Eastern Conference teams with the other three groups made up of clubs from the Western Conference.
The top two in each group will progress to the Round of 16, along with the four best third-place teams.
Inter Miami will kick off the competition against the hosts on July 8 before facing Philadelphia Union and Chicago Fire. Miami will not play the other two teams in its group – NYCFC and Nashville.
File Photo: Disney
Herons boss Alonso will be hoping for an improved performance after watching his side lose their first two MLS fixtures.
They will be helped by the return of striker Julian Carranza, and defender Nicolas Figal has also returned after picking up an injury during the break.
Inter sporting director Paul McDonough has confirmed the team will be heading to Orlando at the last possible moment in order to continue preparations at their Fort Lauderdale base.
“Our plan is that we will depart for Orlando as late as possible so we can keep the guys here in the comfort of the training facilities and their families,” he said.
Miami returned to full training on Monday after being approved by Major League Soccer.
