Is another high-stakes Miami-Nashville showdown looming in Champions Cup?

Big games are nothing new for the Coyotes and los Garzas

Inter Miami has played more important matches against Nashville SC than any other club, helping fuel one of Major League Soccer's most entertaining rivalries. The Herons and Coyotes have played 19 times since both teams joined Major League Soccer in 2020, including eight matches in knockout competitions. Tuesday's 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup draw makes a ninth such showdown likely.

All Nashville has to do is defeat Atlético Ottawa in February to book a rematch of 2025 MLS Cup playoff foes. Miami sandwiched 3-1 and 4-0 home routs of the Coyotes around a 1-2 loss at Geodis Park in the best-of-three first-round series then cruised to the Herons' first league championship with convincing wins against FC Cincinnati, New York City FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Champions Cup is the most prestigious trophy awarded by the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football -- better known (thankfully) as CONCACAF. Mexican-based teams have dominated the competition, winning 40 of the 62 cups awarded since 1962. Winners in all but the final round are determined by the aggregate score after teams play one another in a home-and-away "tie." Away goals are the first tiebreaker.

Only three U.S. teams have lifted the Champions Cup -- D.C. United (1998), Los Angeles Galaxy (2000) and Seattle Sounders (2022) -- which has become a sort of "Holy Grail" for MLS sides.

Inter Miami will be playing in its third straight Cup competition. The Herons qualified for the 2024 tournament by winning the inaugural Leagues Cup in 2023 against -- drumroll, please -- Nashville. As runners up, the Coyotes also qualified for the 2024 Champions Cup, where they were eliminated in the Round of 16 by -- another drumroll, please -- Inter Miami by the aggregate score of 5-3. Mexican powerhouse Monterrey ousted Los Garzas 5-2 in aggregate in the quarterfinals.

The Herons qualified for the 2025 Cup by winning the MLS Supporters' Shield for compiling a league-record 74 points the previous season. The Pink & Black eliminated Sporting Kansas City (4-1, including a frigid 1-0 February win at Kansas City), Cavalier FC of Jamaica (4-0) and Los Angeles FC (4-2, rallying from an 0-2 deficit early in the second leg) before falling to the Vancouver Whitecaps in the semifinals.

Nashville handily defeated Moca FC of the Dominican Republic, 7-0, in the first leg of the 2024 tournament.

Like Miami and Nashville, Atlético Ottawa began playing in 2020 as a member of the Canadian Premier League. The Otters -- owned by Spanish side Atlético Madrid -- had the CPL's best regular season record in 2022 but lost to Forge FC (from Hamilton, Ont.) in the CPL championship match. The side won the North Star Cup playoffs this year 2-1 in extra time against Cavalry FC to earn its berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

The Herons lead the all-time series with Nashville with 10 wins and five losses; the sides have tied four times. It's closer in MLS league play: Miami has five wins to the Coyotes three, with three draws. Los Garzas have enjoyed an edge in matches that matter, though, 5-2-1. Matches that matter between the sides: