When Lionel Messi arrived in South Florida, his new club Inter Miami sat bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, known as one of the worst teams in Major League Soccer.
Now, just weeks later, talk has shifted in a seismic manner, with the conversation now whether they can complete one of the most impressive charges up the table and secure a playoff berth.
With just six games remaining, Inter Miami is well positioned to complete that run, but still has plenty of work to do if it hopes to complete the task.
Amidst a crowded bottom half of the Eastern Conference standings, still looking up at five clubs between them and a playoff spot, here is what Inter Miami must do to secure a postseason berth and put themselves in a place to make a run at the league championship — an unthinkable task just two months ago.
MORE: Lionel Messi injured, but Inter Miami clobber Toronto 4-0 to move closer to playoffs
MLS Eastern Conference table, standings
NOTE: The first tiebreaker in Major League Soccer is not goal differential, but instead total number of wins, while goal differential is the second overall tiebreaker.
Table updated as of Wednesday, September 20.
Pos.
Team
GP
Pts
W-D-L
GD
1.
FC Cincinnati
29
59
17-8-4
+14
2.
Orlando City
29
50
14-8-7
+9
3.
Columbus Crew
29
48
14-6-9
+19
4.
Philadelphia
28
48
14-6-8
+16
5.
New England
28
48
14-9-6
+13
6.
Atlanta United
30
46
13-10-8
+11
7.
Nashville SC
27
40
11-7-9
+5
8.
FC Montreal
29
37
11-4-13
-10
9.
D.C. United
30
36
9-9-12
-1
—-
———————
—
—
——
—
10.
NYCFC
30
34
7-13-10
-6
11.
Chicago Fire
29
33
8-9-12
-13
12.
Charlotte FC
28
33
7-12-9
-9
13.
Inter Miami
28
31
9-4-15
-8
14.
NY Red Bulls
29
30
7-10-12
-9
15.
Toronto FC
29
22
4-10-15
-21
MORE: Odds to win MLS Cup as Lionel Messi hopes to lead Inter Miami from worst to first
How can Inter Miami make MLS playoffs?
In order to make the playoffs, Inter Miami must finish at least ninth in the Eastern Conference standings.
The currently sit just five points back of the final playoff spot with six games remaining in their regular season schedule.
The seven remaining matches provides them a maximum of 18 possible points remaining with which to put pressure on their playoff rivals, but they would need some help from those around them as well to make up ground. In that regard, Inter Miami also hold at least one, sometimes two, game(s) in hand on the rest of the clubs ahead of them.
If they squeak into the playoffs in one of the final two places, they would be subject to the new Wild Card round which features essentially a play-in game before the other seven playoff teams enter the fray. Should their late-season charge see them all the way up to seventh or better, however, they would earn a bye past that treacherous first round and slide straight into the first round proper.
Incredibly, Inter Miami currently has the 2nd-best betting odds to win the MLS Cup at Bet MGM. In Canada, Sports Interaction has Inter Miami as the betting favorite.
Inter Miami remaining MLS schedule
Inter Miami’s remaining schedule in MLS play is a jam-packed one, as the club must make up league games postponed to accommodate for their deep runs in the Leagues Cup and U.S. Open Cup tournaments.
While it presents a daunting task for the Inter Miami coaching staff to keep the players fit for duty while consistently taking the field twice a week, it also presents an opportunity as well. Inter Miami still have remaining matches against the likes of Atlanta United, NYCFC, Charlotte FC (2x), and the Chicago Fire, all of whom they sit behind in the playoff race.
Additionally, they have recently taken points off Nashville SC and the New York Red Bulls, who they are also chasing in the Eastern Conference standings, and blasted basement-dwellers Toronto FC 4-0 as well.
The club must also navigate around the U.S. Open Cup final which takes place Wednesday, September 27 at home against Houston Dynamo, further adding to the congested fixture list.
2023 MLS playoff schedule
Regular season Decision Day: Oct. 21
Wild card round: Oct. 25-26
First round: Oct. 28 – Nov. 12
Conference semifinals: Nov. 25-26
Conference finals: Dec. 2-3
Final: Dec. 9
>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Sporting News – https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/inter-miami-mls-playoffs-messi-standings-2023-games-left/651ff262ba996bc575c91807
