Messi, Inter Miami face big challenge at home against red-hot Nashville on Saturday

Miami Herald

11-07-2025

Lionel Messi surely will get a rest at some point in the coming weeks after playing at least 90 minutes in 14 consecutive games, but it seems likely he will be in the Inter Miami starting lineup on Saturday night for a critical home game against Nashville SC.
Miami is on a roll and climbing the MLS standings. Messi, 38 and still lethal, is coming off a historic performance. And Nashville is the hottest team in the league, off to its best start in club history, riding a 15-game unbeaten streak across all competitions.
Nashville sits just one point behind first place Cincinnati in the Eastern Conference and its roster includes Golden Boot leader Sam Surridge, who has 16 goals in 21 games, and 2022 MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar with nine goals and eight assists.
Miami is in top form, as well, making Saturday's 7:45 p.m. match a marquee game on Apple TV and FS1.
After being eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup Round of 16, Inter Miami returned to MLS with back-to-back road victories against CF Montreal and New England Revolution over the span of five days.
In the process, Miami moved up to fifth in the East, seven points behind Cincinnati with three games in hand. Miami is on pace to match last season's MLS season record for points. Also, Messi made history on Wednesday, breaking a league record with multiple goals in four matches in a row.
He scored both goals in the 2-1 win against New England, two goals in the 4-1 win over Montreal and had a brace in Miami's two previous MLS games before the Club World Cup, against Montreal and Columbus. Messi has 14 goals and seven assists in 15 games this season and is in second place behind Surridge in the Golden Boot race.
Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said the plan was to give Messi some rest in the second half of the New England game, but as the game got tighter, the coaching staff chose to keep him on the field. Also, Messi loves to play and prefers to finish games.
'We'll have to do what makes sense regarding Leo and roster rotations, and always consulting him,' Mascherano said Friday morning before training. 'At the moment, as you've seen, whenever he has not felt in the best shape we tried to preserve him and take care of him. As long as he's feeling good, we will keep managing him and using him whenever we can.
'It's not only Leo, it's the same for all the key players. We must see how each of them are feeling during this stretch of games.'
Although Miami has played the fewest MLS matches of the year with 18, they have played 30 games across all competitions, including eight in the Concacaf Champions Cup and four in the Club World Cup. No other MLS team has played more than 22 games, and the vast majority have played 20 or 21.
Despite the grueling schedule, Miami players will have to find the energy to keep up with a Nashville team that Mascherano says 'physically pushes you to the limit.'
He added that Nashville poses a similar challenge as Philadelphia with its physicality and its manner of attacking, with wings up high, and other players pushing up the middle.
'We have to be very careful, this is a team that is in very good form right now,' Mascherano said.
Nashville leads MLS with 10 penalty kicks earned over 21 games, which makes sense because it is a team with a lot of strong attackers in the final third, Mascherano said.
That is a topic Mascherano said he addressed with his players to remind them not to be reckless in the box. One Miami defender who has a tendency for yellow cards is Tomas Aviles, who led MLS in yellows last season. He had 12 yellow cards in 37 matches last year.
He has gotten better this year with just three in 22 games. Two of them came during the Club World Cup, including one just 30 seconds after replacing injured Noah Allen against PSG.
Mascherano said the coaches have worked with Aviles, and others, on avoiding yellows.
'Clearly, it is very difficult for a defender, especially a central defender, to play a long time carrying a yellow card because it limits you,' Mascherano said. 'We try to talk to the players about avoiding fouls as much as possible, especially in places, like in the PSG game, where it doesn't make sense, three quarters up the field. Obviously, players who have a more defensive role are more susceptible to yellow cards, but we do try to help them because it hurts the team and hurts them because we have to take them off to avoid red cards.'
Nashville is coming off a 5-2 come-from-behind win over D.C. United in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup. Nashville has won six MLS road games in a row but has lost its last four visits to Chase Stadium.
After Saturday's game, Inter Miami plays on the road Wednesday against Cincinnati, on the road July 19 at New York Red Bulls, and then at home July 26 against Cincinnati.
Injury Update: Goalkeeper Oscar Ustari, who seemed to pick up a minor injury last game, is fine and trained without issue, Mascherano said. Goalkeeper Drake Callender is in the final stage of recuperation from sports hernia surgery and should return to full training soon.
Yannick Bright, Gonzalo Lujan, and David Ruiz are back to full training but after being out for a prolonged time need to regain their rhythm. 'We hope, maybe not this game, but looking at the Cincinnati and Red Bulls stretch, to be able to count on those three,' Mascherano said.
Tickets for the home game vs Nashville Saturday are available at Ticketmaster.com and secondary markets such as Vivid Seats and StubHub.