ANTIOCH, Tenn. – Nashville SC are going into the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs looking for revenge.
After losing 5-2 against Inter Miami CF at home on Decision Day, they'll get a chance at redemption when their Round One Best-of-3 Series begins Friday night on the road (8 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV, FS1, FOX Deportes).
The mood around Nashville's training ground has quickly shifted from frustration to looking to rewrite the narrative.
“There is unfinished business,” said Hany Mukhtar, the 2022 Landon Donovan MLS MVP.
History with Miami
Nashville and Miami have seemed joined at the hip since they debuted in MLS in 2020.
The then-expansion sides met in the playoffs during their first year, with Nashville taking the victory, a dominant 3-0 result at Nissan Stadium. The Boys In Gold largely controlled the next wave of meetings, too, before Miami tipped the scales in 2023.
The Herons knocked Nashville out of the US Open Cup in the Round of 16 before an infamous win in the Leagues Cup final at GEODIS Park, with Lionel Messi scoring and lifting his first trophy in North America after a tense 1-1 draw and a penalty shootout that went 11 rounds, all the way to the goalkeepers.
The next season, Miami knocked Nashville out of the Concacaf Champions Cup, ending their first foray into the competition in the Round of 16.
Nashville haven’t forgotten any of it.
“We have a bitter taste,” said Mukhtar, whose 16 goals and 12 assists made 2025 his joint-second highest scoring campaign. “Concacaf, the Leagues Cup final, you know? There’s a lot of bitter tastes for us, and it's time to turn the pages.”
“It was pretty clear that it was going to be two different approaches from the outset,” said veteran defender Daniel Lovitz.
“It's been really fun and interesting to watch how each has grown into that in different phases. There's been some really important games. And frankly, not enough have gone our direction… There's a lot at stake every time we play, and that's where we want to be.”
Stopping Messi
Perhaps more than any team in MLS, Nashville have fallen victim to Messi's brilliance. The 2024 Landon Donovan MLS MVP has been dominant against the Coyotes, scoring 10 goals in his seven matches against them. Miami haven’t lost to Nashville since Messi's arrival, either, winning six and drawing two.
Their most recent clash, held this past Saturday, was the textbook definition of a tale of two halves. Nashville dominated the opening 45 minutes, heading into the break with a 2-1 lead. But missed chances came back to bite them, and Messi finished with a hat trick that helped earn this year's Golden Boot presented by Audi.
“We showed that even though we lost 5-2, we had so many chances. We could have scored five or six!” said Mukhtar. “If we score four in the first half, the game could have been completely different. We have to focus on ourselves, on our strengths. I think we’ve created enough chances in all the games against them.”
The way Nashville defended against Messi, in particular, left them with a sour taste.
“I think in general, the only disappointing element really was the fact that we were a little bit naive in defending one of the best players ever,” said Lovitz. “We know that we weren't the best version of ourselves. And even with that, it still could have been a much more higher-scoring affair. And obviously, we think we could have scored one or two more… But they have quality. It's inevitable, not that they score, but that they cause us problems.”
Inspiration from Atlanta?
Nashville enter their Round One series as the on-paper underdog.
While they’re not buying into that tag internally, they're looking to last season as inspiration. Atlanta United, who finished the 2024 campaign as a Wild Card seed (No. 9), eliminated Miami in Round One, one of the most shocking upsets in league history.
If Atlanta could do it, why not Nashville as a No. 6 seed?
“Atlanta went to Miami in the first game and lost. Then they came home and they won. And then they went away, and then that's when they won [the series],” said head coach B.J. Callaghan. “You have to understand that each game is independent of each other, but that there's a pathway to advance. The playoffs are a different animal.”
If the series goes to a third game, Nashville and Miami will have played each other four consecutive times. While that’s almost unheard of in global soccer, Mukhtar’s excited for the opportunity to send shockwaves.
“This is an opportunity because we know them, we have played them last week, just six days,” the German-born star noted. “That is an advantage for us. Everything tastes really fresh.”
After winning the US Open Cup in early October, the first trophy in club history, Nashville have eyes on lifting MLS Cup presented by Audi on Dec. 6. And while opening their playoff campaign against Miami is a daunting task, Callaghan feels they’d have this matchup at some point.
“To be honest, I would like to presume that the pathway through the playoffs is going to have to go through Miami at some point,” he smiled wryly. “We might as well get it fresh off our last match.”
