MIAMI — Among the many questions Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano was asked by reporters Saturday morning before the team traveled to Cincinnati for Sunday’s Eastern Conference Semifinal, was this one:

If you lose this next game, can the season be considered a success?

Mascherano did not hesitate before replying: “The thought of not winning is not in my head. I don’t even think that. The team has reached this point in the season in the best form, not only the level we were at against Nashville, but also the atmosphere in training this week.”

After falling far short of expectations last season with a first-round playoff exit, Lionel Messi and his much-hyped team played arguably their best collective game of the season in the first-round series-clinching 4-0 win over Nashville two weeks ago.

The team advanced to the knockout round for the first time in the club’s six-year history and is hungry for more.

The winner of Sunday’s match (5 p.m., Apple TV) will take on the winner of No. 1 seed Philadelphia Union vs. No. 5 New York City FC (7:45 p.m. Sunday night) in the Eastern Conference Final next weekend.

If the conference final is Miami against NYCFC, the game will be at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. If it is Miami against Philadelphia, it will be in Philadelphia.

Were Inter Miami to reach the MLS Cup championship Dec. 6, that game is guaranteed to be played at Chase Stadium because Miami finished the regular season with more points than the Western Conference semifinalists. Vancouver plays LAFC in one semi, and San Diego plays Minnesota in the other.

How important is the game?

Inter Miami is three wins away from lifting its first MLS Cup trophy.

Asked to assess the most important game in club history, Mascherano laughed and said: “All season we have been saying the same thing. The semifinals of Champions [Cup], Club World Cup. Hey, I welcome this, that every day there’s a game more important than the last one.

“Kidding aside, it’s clearly a very, very important game. The players and the whole team have earned the chance to be in this position. We know that it will be a very difficult opponent that has achieved the same thing we did this regular season, finished with the same number of points as us. And they have the advantage of playing at home. But we head there with a lot of excitement and prepared to play a great game and reach the conference final.”

Inter Miami entered this season aiming for four trophies. The team lost in the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup, the Round of 16 of the Club World Cup, and the final of the Leagues Cup. The MLS Cup is the only trophy within Miami’s reach.

A championship would take on extra meaning as Messi’s Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba are retiring at the end of the Inter Miami season. A trophy would be the perfect sendoff. It would also energize the fan base as the team opens its new Miami Freedom Park stadium in Spring 2026.

“David Beckham will tell you that his project with the LA Galaxy as a player was solidified when they got the star above their crest,” said Apple TV lead analyst Taylor Twellman, who will call the Inter Miami vs. Cincinnati game. “[Inter Miami players] know in order to solidify this entire operation and what they want to do, they want to open their new stadium in 2026 with a star above their crest, so the pressure is on them to deliver.”

Cincinnati scouting report

Since 2022, under coach Pat Noonan, FC Cincinnati is 5-1-3 in all competitions against Inter Miami. Over the past two seasons, FCC has outscored Miami 9-1 in the two home games at TQL Stadium.

The most recent was a 3-0 win over a full Miami roster in July as Evander scored a brace for the home team.

In July 2024, Cincinnati routed a heavily depleted Inter Miami team 6-1. Messi and Suarez were missing for Copa America. Alba and Diego Gomez were suspended for yellow card accumulation. Matias Rojas was injured and Busquets was red-carded midway through the second half.

In the most recent match, on July 26, the teams tied 0-0. Messi and Alba were suspended for that match after skipping the MLS All-Star Game.

“I think from those two [most recent] matchups a significant amount of Miami’s starting lineup, has been different,” Noonan said. “So sure, we look back at those games and say, ‘Okay, what can we take from them?’ You don’t want to go too far back, and in this case, you know, we didn’t spend too much of our preparation looking at those games. I think they’re in really good form, defensively have continued to get better, offensively have gotten better. And that’s why we have this matchup is because they’ve been really strong. A lot of our focus was the series with Nashville. And [we’ve] seen a lot of Miami-Nashville.”

If the game is close, Cincinnati might have the edge. Noonan’s team won 16 of its 20 regular-season matches by a single-goal margin, and both wins against the Crew in the playoffs were by a one-goal difference.

Miami’s defense, which has been vulnerable at times, especially in transition, will have to deal with Evander, Brenner, and Kevin Denkey. Right back Ian Fray is questionable with a minor injury suffered while with the Jamaican national team.

“Evander is one of the best players in the league, full respect for him,” said Miami defender Noah Allen. “He can do a lot of different things, not just take players one on one, but his movements are unreal, the way he runs in behind. They’re a great team, have a great stadium and fan base. But the last couple days we’ve been prepping our plan and the feeling in our group is we feel confident.”

Should Luis Suarez start?

Inter Miami played “a near-perfect game” in the 4-0 win over Nashville, Mascherano said after that game. Suarez was suspended for that game, replaced by 19-year-old Mateo Silvetti, who added a new dynamic to the team’s attack and also sprinted back on defense.

Mascherano was asked whether he might consider having Suarez come off the bench on Sunday. He would not say, but indications are Suarez will start.

“We have played 55 games this season, won 31 of those, and the majority of those were with Luis on the field,” the coach said. “I am not going to discuss one player over another, and I think it would be disrespectful to Luis’ storied career. No two games are the same. Cincinnati is not Nashville. Sunday you’ll see what I decide.”

Twellman suggested Miami would be better with three in back rather than four if Suarez is on the field.

“My opinion has always been, and will remain the same, with Suarez, Messi and Busquets, you’re immediately defensively liable because you don’t have a ton of legs,” Twellman said. “I thought they were really good against Nashville because Suarez wasn’t in their line of confrontation. It was Messi and a 19-year-old and a 25-, 26-year-old, whatever [Tadeo] Allende is. They were much more dynamic. Even [Nashville coach] B.J. Callaghan said it was a different look for them.”

The atmosphere at TQL stadium

Inter Miami can expect a hostile environment at TQL Stadium with very few pink Messi shirts in the stands.

“It’s as good as it gets when it comes to Major League Soccer,” Twellman said. “I’ve said this from the moment I set foot in TQL Stadium: If I blindfolded you and put you in the middle of that stadium, took the blindfold off, and for anyone who has not seen it, go watch their pregame display with Phil Collins `In the Air Tonight.’ You would have no idea that you were in the Midwest of the United States of America. It feels like a Bundesliga, or lower-level Premier League stadium.

“It is the best atmosphere. If it’s not 1A, it’s 1B [LAFC Stadium is the other]. My Apple watch tells me loud environment 15 times during the game. I’m not exaggerating. This Sunday, in the 30th year of Major League Soccer, with Messi being on the away team, I think you’re going to be hard-pressed to find a better spectacle for how far MLS has come.”

Noonan stressed in his pregame remarks that the fans were key in the team’s come-from-behind win over the Columbus Crew in the first-round decisive game.

“You don’t have to look too far in the past to understand the significance of playing at home, because the energy in our building when we went down a goal and how that last stretch looked and felt was the energy of the fans, and so I imagine they’re going to be ready the same way on Sunday,” he said. “That was the best environment that I’ve experienced in my time here.”

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