Will Messi be available for Inter Miami's Leagues Cup match against Tigres? | OneFootball

Will Messi be available for Inter Miami's Leagues Cup match against Tigres? | OneFootball

In partnership with

Yahoo sports
Icon: FanSided MLS

FanSided MLS

·20 agosto 2025

Will Messi be available for Inter Miami's Leagues Cup match against Tigres?

Immagine dell'articolo:Will Messi be available for Inter Miami's Leagues Cup match against Tigres?

Sore hamstring threatens to keep Messi out of quarterfinal match

Inter Miami will play Mexico's Tigres on Wednesday in the 2025 Leagues Cup semifinals, but they may have to do so without iconic captain Lionel Messi.

  1. LEAGUES CUP QUARTERFINAL: Inter Miami vs. Tigres UANL; 8 p.m. Wednesday; Chase Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Apple TV MLS Season Pass, FS1

Herons' coach Javier Mascherano said Tuesday he won't know until tomorrow whether Messi will play. The eight-time Balon d'Or winner missed two matches and most of a third after injuring his right hamstring 11 minutes into a Leagues Cup Phase One match against Necaxa. He came off the bench Saturday against the Los Angeles Galaxy and contributed a goal and assist to seal a 3-1 victory, but showed clear signs of discomfort, grabbing his leg on several occasions and leaving the pitch as soon as the match ended.


OneFootball Video


Messi didn't work out with the rest of the team Tuesday. When reporters asked Mascherano about Messi's availability for tomorrow's critically important match after the Galaxy game, the first-year coach offered a variation of the same answer he's used all season: it depends on Messi.

“Leo wants to play every single game. He wanted to play in Orlando (a 4-1 Miami loss), also. It was impossible," Mascherano said. "It’s like this. You have to understand why Leo is Leo. He always wants to be on the pitch. He’s happy there. Sometimes we try to explain to him to go slowly, but at the end, when he feels good, he knows himself like no one, so we tried to give him minutes to get him ready for the next games.”

Supporters are torn between hoping La Pulga -- the Flea -- competes in what is the Herons' next "most important match of the season" or rests to ensure he's healthy for the MLS homestretch. Considering the joy Messi takes in antagonizing Mexican fans, I wouldn't bet against his trying to play. Unless Mascherano shows a new-found ability to refuse his former Barcelona teammate, I expect to see him in Pink & Black and on the pitch against Tigres.

HOW THEY GOT HERE

INTER MIAMI CF advanced to the Leagues Cup knockout stage with wins against Atlas FC (2-1) and Pumas UNAM (3-1) and a penalty kick win against Necaxa (3-2) after tying 1-1 in regulation time. The Herons have a regular season record of13-5-6, 45 points, fifth in Major League Soccer's 15-team Eastern Conference.

TIGRES UANL beat the Houston Dynamo (4-1) and San Diego FC (2-1) before losing to LAFC (1-2) in Phase One. The Liga MX side is sixth (3-1-0, 9 points) in the 18-team table after four matches of the Clausura (closing) competition (Liga MX plays two seasons each year.)

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Leagues Cup is a North American competition, pitting clubs from Mexico's Liga MX against Major League Soccer's teams based in the United States and Canada, but this match will have a distinctly South American flavor. Between them, Inter Miami (nine) and Tigres (four) have 13 Argentinian players. Key players for each team include:

INTER MIAMI CF -- The most important, of course, is Messi. Even at 38, the Argentine World Cup hero is among the world's best players. He's recorded19 goals and eight assists in 19 MLS matches (25/11 overall) in 2025. Even injured, his competitiveness and intelligence help him impact any competition. I think speedy winger Tadeo Allende, an Argentine who has struggled recently, will score on the counter. Tigres -- much like Los Garzas -- have a tendency to push their wingbacks up into the attack and leave space behind their back line. Allende (seven goals, one assist in 21 MLS matches), can't do much with the ball when he receives it but has shown he can smash a strike by a keeper one-on-one.

TIGRES UANL -- The Mexican side's most dangerous player is Argentine attacker Angel Correa, 30, who has played with Miami's Messi and Rodrigo DePaul on the Argentine national team and began the year with DePaul at Atletico Madrid before both stars changed teams this summer. Correa has 105 goals and 85 assists, most with Atleti (where he also played with Inter Miami striker Luis Suarez during his time in Madrid). He has five goals and an assist for Tigres, including four scores in Leagues Cup competition.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

INTER MIAMI CF -- Ustari; Weigandt, Luján, Falcón, Alba; Busquets, De Paul; Allende, Messi, Segovia; Suárez

I'd like to see Rocco Rios Novo start in goal; he filled in nicely while Oscar Ustari recovered from an injury, including starts in all three Leagues Cup Phase One matches (and made a big save in the shootout against Necaxa). But despite his recent struggles, Ustari is Mascherano's starting keeper. Allende will play to help stretch the field, but don't be surprised if Masche starts Yannick Bright beside Sergio Busquets in the defensive midfield to mark Correa. In that case, Allende would sit and DePaul would move up beside Messi and Segovia.

TIGRES UANL -- Guzman; Aquino, Zwarg, Sanchez, Garza; Brunetta, Gorriaran; Lainez, Correa, Herrera; Gignac

Visualizza l' imprint del creator