Messi fit, Alba out for Inter Miami vs. Nashville on Saturday. What else you should know
Inter Miami takes on Nashville SC on Saturday for the third time in six weeks, Lionel Messi is fit and energized, and nobody knows better than Nashville coach Gary Smith how dangerous the men in pink can be when their Argentine captain is on his game.
“Yeah, I’m a little bit disappointed that Lionel Messi has got himself back probably into tip-top sharp form just as we come into town again, of course,” Smith said early this week. “I think what we can safely say is when he’s in the group, there’s a very, very different feel and look and inspiration about the team.
“And that’s not taking anything away from the quality and standard of some of the other guys involved there. At this point in time, I think they’re in a very, very good spot. They’re playing excellent football.”
Since Messi arrived in South Florida last July, Inter Miami is unbeaten in four games against Nashville, including the Leagues Cup final that Miami won in a dramatic 10-round penalty kick shootout. Three of the games ended tied in regulation. Messi scored in all four, including their most recent matchup, a 3-1 Miami victory on March 13 that eliminated Nashville from the Champions Cup in the Round of 16.
Luis Suarez also scored for Miami in that game, and the pairing of Messi with his former Barcelona teammate makes Nashville’s challenge doubly difficult. Messi has five goals and five assists in five MLS matches this season. Suarez has six goals and three assists in eight games.
Asked how Nashville might corral those two, Smith replied: “You can only try to limit their opportunities. I don’t think you’re ever going to stop them. They’re such high-caliber individuals, so intelligent that if they can build some pressure in and around your penalty area, it normally means there’s an opportunity coming.
“Those two guys in particular need very, very few sights of goal to make a difference. They’ve already proven that in this league.”
With Messi healthy and games more spread out after exiting the Champions Cup, Miami coach Tata Martino said the plan is for Messi to play without designated breaks as the team aims to collect points in the MLS standings before losing players — including Messi — to their national teams during the Copa America this summer.
Miami sits atop the Eastern Conference standings with 15 points and has scored 19 goals, more than any team in the league. Martino said the team is six points ahead of where it was at this point last season, and the goal is to build as big a cushion as possible during the next month to be in good position when the playoff race heats up the final third of the season.
Miami will be missing one of its four marquee players on Saturday. Left back Jordi Alba is out for at least the next two games with a hamstring injury, Martino said, and after that it will be game-by-game situation. Franco Negri will likely replace Alba in the starting lineup, which means there could be an all-Argentine back line with Negri, Nico Freire, Tomas Aviles and Chelo Weigandt. Miami’s defense has been spotty, so that has been a priority this week.
Forward Leo Campana and midfielder Robert Taylor returned to training after injuries, but likely won’t play until next week.
Nashville is off to its worst start since 2020, stuck in 14th place with just one win and seven points. Injuries to key players Walker Zimmerman, Shaq Moore, Tyler Boyd and Randall Leal have been a big factor.
Nashville has not played in 14 days, and Smith said that has given the injured players time to recuperate. He added that Boyd and Leal would likely play against Miami while Zimmerman and Moore have returned to training, but it might be too much to expect them to play.
Both Smith and Martino said the crowded schedule so early in the year may have contributed to injuries for both teams. They both played in Champions Cup and Miami also played seven preseason games in five countries, traveling to El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Japan.
“We have played more games than any other MLS team,” Martino said. “We were playing an average of one game every four days. We had to play Champions Cup, a very important tournament, just as our season was starting. It was not in midseason, when the team is set. We had to play Nashville in two do-or-die games, and then Monterrey. That is not normal at that point in the season. We will surely evaluate later if we should make any changes in what we do in the preseason, but for now we are just doing what we can to minimize risk of injury.”
Smith concurred.
“The fact that ourselves and Miami were in Champions Cup…you’ve only got to look at their preseason and the challenges that they faced, a lot of travel, a lot of games early, we had eight games in 24 days, I do believe that had a huge impact on some of the difficulties that we’ve had,” Smith said. “I can’t tell you what (Miami) does in training, but what I can tell you is what they’ve been through is a hell of a lot.”
