Healthy and rested: Messi and top mates will face Nashville in Concacaf match
Lionel Messi is healthy and expected to start for Inter Miami at home against Nashville SC on Wednesday night in the deciding leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16. His three ex-Barcelona teammates, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez, are also fit, well-rested, and ready to play.
Miami tied Nashville
2-2 on the road in the first leg Thursday, and though the teams are tied on aggregate, Miami holds the edge because the first tiebreaker is away goals. Messi and his teammates will advance to the quarterfinals of the $5 million tournament with a win, a 0-0 tie, or a 1-1 tie.
If Wednesday’s game is 2-2 at the end of regulation, it will go to extra time and then penalty kicks. The last time these two teams went to PKs, in the Leagues Cup final last August, it went 10 rounds before Miami clinched it.
While Messi and his high-profile supporting cast might intimidate some MLS teams, they don’t seem to faze Nashville, which has tied Miami the last three times they played.
“We’ve played them enough now that there’s no fear,” said Nashville defender Lukas Macnaughton, whose tackle on Messi in Thursday’s game was still the subject of much debate on social media five days later.
“Leo is an experienced player; he was trying to get something out of nothing,” said Macnaughton. “But I’ve tackled enough players in my career that it is what it is. If someone wants to make a fuss of it after the game or in the game, it’s just another tackle.”
All that said, Macnaughton and Nashville coach Gary Smith heaped praise on Messi and explained why playing against him is so difficult.
“It’s a never-ending conundrum,” Smith said of playing the Argentine eight-time Ballon d’Or
winner. “You try to set up a group to try and limit what he’s able to do. He’s proved throughout his career at the very best levels that no matter how good you are defensively or how well organized you are, the caliber of the individual will always find a way.
“So, we try to limit service to him and then, that intensity, whenever possible, in and around him. But most important, to be ourselves and not play a game that is abnormal to us.”
Macnaughton was asked how opponents adjust when defending Messi.
“It may look like he’s walking around, but the whole time he’s scanning, he’s looking, he’s creating space for other people to run,” Macnaughton said.
“He’s always looking for balls in behind, dangerous moments, and when he gets on the ball, there’s definitely momentum that he creates. He attracts players to the ball. When he’s not on the field, some Miami players don’t make certain runs. When he’s on the field, you have to be hyper-aware and engaged.”
Both teams are expecting another intense showdown Wednesday (8:15 p.m., FS2, TUDN).
“We’ve had some fantastic games against Miami, I don’t think this one will be any different,” Smith said. “There’s an awful lot on the line. The tie is in a really tight place, a knife’s edge. And, of course, Miami will have a slight advantage being at home, and with those two away goals. But I think there is a huge amount of encouragement for us in the way the game was played in Nashville.”
The rivalry between Inter Miami and Nashville has been brewing since both clubs joined MLS five seasons ago, and seems to intensify with each meeting.
DIFFERENT PATHS
Both clubs are relatively new to the league, but they took divergent paths to reach this point. Prior to joining MLS, Nashville SC was a fourth-tier, fanowned minor-league club known as Nashville FC. Supporters paid $40 to become part-owners and the team played in the NPSL in front of 1,800 fans. The club worked its way up the U.S. soccer ranks and quietly built its MLS roster.
Inter Miami was the brainchild of global soccer icon David Beckham, who along with partners Jorge and Jose Mas promised a high-profile, high-octane team of superstars. Every roster move has been scrutinized globally, none more so than the arrival of Messi.
The teams also have contrasting playing styles, which makes their matchups intriguing.
“Sometimes teams just complement each other,” Smith said. “The way Miami is very, very creative, have some wonderful individuals, and I think we need to go through those individuals again. It forces teams into a particular style and game plan and on the day we found some very bright moments.”
Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender added: “Every time we play Nashville it’s a very, very competitive game. In our last meetings with them it’s come down to the wire, a very gritty game, goals being scored. So, yes, it’s a good rivalry and it’s always fun to play them.”
FRESH LEGS
Both teams will have fresh legs as the coaches rotated their rosters for their weekend league games to make sure they were well-rested for this Champions Cup match.
Smith made eight changes to the Nashville starting lineup for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Galaxy, which ended in a 2-2 tie. Defenders Macnaughton and Daniel Lovitz, midfielder Anibal Godoy and goalkeeper Joe Willis did not play at all, nor did defender Walker Zimmerman, who got injured during the Miami game and will sit out again Wednesday, Smith said.
Midfielder Hany Mukhtar, defender Shaq Moore, forward Jacob Shaffelburg and forward Tyler Boyd came off the bench.
Martino sat five starters for Sunday’s game against CF Montreal, which Miami lost 3-2. Messi did not dress for the game. Busquets, Suarez, Diego Gomez and Nico Freire came off the bench.
Martino explained that the urgency of the Champions Cup took precedence over an early-season league game.
“Our goal is to play well in all the tournaments, but it’s clear that the MLS season is just starting, so there is room for error, and in the Concacaf Champions Cup we have a decisive game [Wednesday] in which there is no room for error,” Martino said. “So, when we planned from the start of the season, we had contemplated this situation, that the league game that was in between the two Champions Cup games is one in which we would make some roster changes.”
The winner of the twolegged Round of 16 advances to the quarterfinals against the winner of FC Cincinnati vs Mexican team Monterrey, who play Thursday night. Monterrey won the first leg 1-0.