Lionel Messi and Inter Miami make a fourth attempt at earning their first win in their new stadium on Saturday night when they welcome an Orlando City squad managing an unusually busy recent schedule.

The Herons (5-1-4, 19 points) earned consecutive away wins in their first two matches following the resignation of manager Javier Mascherano in early April and the takeover of Guillermo Hoyos on an interim basis.

But they settled for a 1-1 home draw to New England on Saturday, which marked the third time in as many matches at the freshly unveiled Nu Stadium that honors have finished even.

Versatile defensive midfielder Facundo Mura thinks there have been noticeable, positive changes under Hoyos, who previously was serving as the club’s sporting director.

“Even though we couldn’t win in the last round, we’ve taken seven of the last nine points, and we feel we’ve improved, especially mentally,” Mura said. “So I think we’ll arrive in good shape for the next game.”

Messi has not added to his team-best total of seven goals in Miami’s last two league matches. But he and his teammates have enjoyed a full week to train under Hoyos after navigating a stretch of three games in eight days following the managerial switch.

Messi scored two goals when Inter Miami won 4-2 at Orlando City on March 1. He has eight goals in five meetings against the Lions across all competitions.

Meanwhile, Orlando (2-7-1, 7 points) will play for a second time in about 72 hours and a seventh time in 21 days while managing a run to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals.

Learning how to balance his players’ workloads has been on-the-job learning for interim manager Martin Perelman, who took over for Oscar Pareja following a three-match losing streak to start the season.

Complicating the equation is a lengthy injury list that includes key attackers Duncan McGuire and Marco Pasalic, who missed last weekend’s 3-2 league loss at D.C. United and Wednesday’s 4-3 Cup triumph over the New England Revolution.

“It’s not an easy task, especially because now we are recovering some of our guys,” Perelman said. “But we’ve had a lot of injuries, so that makes more difficult the task of (monitoring) loads. But the players are responding. They are doing a huge effort, an amazing effort.”

–Field Level Media

Cameron Young built a five-shot advantage at the Cadillac Championship by posting a 5-under-par 67 on Friday at Trump National Doral outside Miami.

Young rocketed up to 13-under 131 while Alex Smalley (second-round 71) found the water on No. 18 for a bogey that dropped him into a tie at 8 under with Canada’s Nick Taylor (70) and Jordan Spieth (71).

After capturing the biggest title of his career six weeks ago at The Players Championship, Young finds himself halfway to a Florida double at the PGA Tour’s newest $20 million, no-cut signature event. The PGA Tour returned to Trump National Doral and the famed “Blue Monster” for the first time since 2016.

Spieth remains in contention after a ho-hum round. He was 1 over through 15 holes before salvaging the round with birdies at Nos. 16 and 18. Spieth seeks his first win since the 2022 RBC Heritage.

Gary Woodland (69) sits alone in fifth at 7 under.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (67) moved into a tie for sixth at 6 under alongside South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (68), Canada’s Taylor Pendrith (67), Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan (68), Brian Harman (70) and Englishman Alex Fitzpatrick, whose 66 ranked among the top three rounds of the day.

Fitzpatrick, the younger sibling of World No. 3 Matt Fitzpatrick, became a full PGA Tour member when he and his brother won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event on Sunday.

–Field Level Media

Atlanta United strive to build on a promising run of form when they face visiting CF Montreal on Saturday night.

Atlanta (2-7-1, 7 points) enters the match just one step above last place in the MLS Eastern Conference standings. But it is on a two-game winning streak across all competitions, which includes Tuesday’s 2-0 win at Charlotte FC in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16.

The past two games have provided a much-needed respite for a club that struggled significantly to open the season.

“We want soccer that fans find exciting, that wins games and (makes) opponents (not) want to come and play us,” Atlanta midfielder Will Reilly said. “I don’t think we’re anywhere near how we want to be playing, but we’re in the right direction now.”

CF Montreal (3-6-0, 9 points) have a little wind in their sails after winning their first two matches under interim head coach Philippe Eullaffroy. After a 4-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls on April 17, it topped New York City FC 1-0 on April 25 behind Prince Owusu’s team-high sixth goal of the season.

“We have a lot of belief in the squad we have right now, not only our starting 11, but the depth we have,” Montreal defender Jalen Neal said. “We’re all on the same page with our tactics. So, yeah, we’re looking like a team that can fire on a lot of cylinders right now.”

Atlanta United are looking to end a four-match home winless streak (0-3-1). Montreal is 1-5-0 on the road and has dropped its last three away from Stade Saputo.

Alexey Miranchuk, who leads Atlanta with six goals across all competitions, has found the net in back-to-back matches. Owusu has two goals and two assists in his last two matches.

Miguel Almiron (knee) is questionable for Saturday, per Atlanta head coach Tata Martino.

–Field Level Media