6th in the Western Conference
\n12 points, 4W-3L-0D<\/p>\n
Colorado have impressed during their first season under head coach Matt Wells, a former Tottenham Hotspur assistant who was hired in December<\/a> after the club moved on from Chris Armas.<\/p>\n Wells’ front-foot style has helped the Rapids score a Western Conference-best 19 goals thus far. See last weekend’s 6-2 win<\/a> over Houston Dynamo FC<\/a>, a match where star striker Rafael Navarro<\/a> and club debutant Kosi Thompson<\/a> both netted braces.\u00a0<\/p>\n Navarro has a team-high nine goal contributions (5g\/4a), while USMNT<\/a> midfielder Paxten Aaronson<\/a>\u00a0and forward Darren Yapi<\/a> are other key players in the attack.<\/p>\n Now, can Colorado find success at the home of the NFL’s Denver Broncos? The venue seats more than 76,000 fans, and this match could feature one of the largest standalone attendances in MLS history.<\/p>\n Rafael Navarro: The Brazilian No. 9 is producing at an elite clip and is the reigning<\/a> MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob ULTRA.\u00a0 Likely just one change to Colorado’s starting XI from last week, with left back Jackson Travis<\/a> returning from suspension.<\/p>\n 3rd in the Eastern Conference Inter Miami were dealt a shock this week when news broke that head coach Javier Mascherano has departed<\/a> the club for personal reasons. With sporting director Guillermo Hoyos now taking over, the reigning MLS Cup presented by Audi champions will look to return to their winning ways.<\/p>\n In recent weeks, Inter Miami bowed out of the\u00a0Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a>\u00a0against\u00a0Nashville SC<\/a> and settled for 2-2 draws in their first two matches at Nu Stadium.<\/p>\n Despite not fully kicking into gear, there’s no denying how dangerous Inter Miami are in the attacking third. Messi has scored five goals in six matches, and Mexican international Germ\u00e1n Berterame<\/a> tallied his first MLS goal in a 2-2 draw<\/a> against Red Bull New York<\/a> last weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lionel Messi: The back-to-back Landon Donovan MLS MVP has been steady as ever, scoring five goals in his first six MLS games of 2026. While there’s the unknown caveat of a new head coach, we don’t anticipate many changes for Miami \u2013 outside of Micael<\/a> and Gonzalo Luj\u00e1n<\/a> partnering at center back.<\/p>\n How will Inter Miami respond in their first match since Mascherano’s surprise departure? We’ll find out against a Colorado side raring to put on a show for their 30th-anniversary celebration match.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"6th in the Western Conference 12 points, 4W-3L-0D Colorado have impressed during their first season under head coach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[17153,104466,5429,123,125,124,76891,4959],"class_list":{"0":"post-233963","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-colorado-rapids","9":"tag-colvsmia-04-18-2026","10":"tag-inter-miami-cf","11":"tag-miami","12":"tag-miami-headlines","13":"tag-miami-news","14":"tag-priority-match","15":"tag-sendtonews"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPaxten Aaronson: The Philadelphia Union<\/a> homegrown was brought in last summer as the club’s new centerpiece No. 10. He arrived<\/a> from German Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt for reportedly up to $8.5 million.
\nGeorgi Minoungou: The Rapids acquired the Burkina Faso international winger in a trade<\/a> with Seattle<\/a> late last month. The early returns have been promising, as\u00a0Minoungou<\/a> logged his first club assist in last weekend’s emphatic win over Houston.
\nDarren Yapi: The homegrown forward and US youth international is coming into his own. Yapi has scored 10 MLS goals since the start of 2025.
\nLucas Herrington: The 18-year-old center back and rising Australian international could feature at the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a> this summer.<\/p>\n
\n12 points, 3W-1L-3D record<\/p>\n
\nGerm\u00e1n Berterame: Inter Miami’s prized offseason arrival got off the mark with his first MLS goal<\/a> last weekend. Could that open the floodgates for the Mexican international No. 9?
\nRodrigo De Paul:\u00a0Messi’s Argentine international teammate is in his first full season with the Herons after being acquired on loan from Atl\u00e9tico Madrid last July.
\nSergio Reguil\u00f3n: Due to injuries, the former Tottenham Hotspur left back has been limited to two games in his first MLS season. Does his workload continue to increase?
\nDayne St. Clair: The reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year hopes to secure the starting job with\u00a0Canada<\/a>\u00a0at the 2026 World Cup.<\/p>\n