MIAMI.- With the ghosts of last year hovering above, the Inter Miami of Lionel Messi is obliged to win on Saturday Nashville SC to avoid a new failure in the playoffs of the North American league (MLS).
The match will define the winner of this first round tie, which is tied at one win per side after Inter’s defeat last week in Nashville.
The team he leads Javier Mascherano faces the final duel, this Saturday, before his audience, the same situation he experienced last year when he suffered a shocking elimination at the hands of the Atlanta United.
A second setback at the first opportunity would imply that Inter closes another season without titles, after its participation in the Concacaf Champions Cup, Leagues Cup and Club World Cup.
In case of defeat, the clash against Nashville will also be a sad ending to the extraordinary careers of the Spanish Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, who will hang up their boots at the end of the playoffs.
All the pressure, in this way, will be on the shoulders of the Inter players, the club with the largest budget in the MLS by far, and Mascherano himself.
The “Little Boss”, substitute Gerardo Martino After last year’s debacle, he is also forced to modify his usual eleven due to the loss of Luis Suarez.
The Uruguayan striker received a new MLS suspension on Wednesday, this time for one match, for kicking the Honduran Andy Najar in the previous game that was not penalized on the grass.
The punishment “seemed very strange to me because it is a play that was reviewed by the VAR in real time and did not suggest any sanction from the referee,” Mascherano said this Friday. “As the club said, we accept the decision, but we do not share it.”
In addition to the adjustments in the offensive line, the young Argentine helmsman also has to adjust a defense that suffered in the previous game against the dangerous Nashville attack, led by the English striker Sam Surridge and for the German midfielder Hany Mukhtar.
Definitions day
It is also crucial for Messi to break the spell of the first round, which Inter has never overcome since its debut in the MLS in 2020, and continue fighting for its first North American league title.
The Argentine star, 38, has just extended his commitment to the Florida club until 2028, to which he can continue to be linked after his retirement as a shareholder.
So far, only three teams have made it past the first round this year.
Philadelphia Union, first seed in the Eastern Conference, is the only one classified in that sector.
Los Angeles FC and Vancouver Whitecaps also advanced, led by the South Korean Son Heung-Min and the german Thomas Müllerrespectively, who will meet in an exciting Western Conference semifinal.
The Mexican’s San Diego FC Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, first seed in the West, will have to overcome the tiebreaker duel on Sunday against the fierce Portland Timbers.
The other ticket for the West will be played on Saturday by Minnesota United and Seattle Sounders.
In the East, FC Cincinnati and the Columbus Crew will face each other on Saturday, a clash that would result in Inter Miami’s eventual next rival if they also qualify.
