Inter Miami CF head coach, Javier Mascherano, confirmed Lionel Messi I will travel with the team in Jamaica to face the FC rider on the second floor of the 16 -year series of the Concacaf Champions Cup Thursday at Kingston’s Independence Park.
Messi missed the three previous Miami games due to what Mascherano described as the load management.
“Leo Messi is on the list and will travel with the team in Jamaica,” Mascherano told Media on Wednesday. “Tomorrow, we will decide the game which is best, if it starts or waits on the bench and arrives later.
“Today, he trained with the team, and the sensations were good. We are happy that he travels with us in Jamaica.”
The team will travel on Wednesday to follow the Concacaf protocol and will be on the site of the match 24 hours before kick -off.
In an effort to avoid any future injury, Mascherano did not include Messi in the lists for the matches against the Houston Dynamo and the rider FC before leaving him on the bench for the entire match against the Charlotte FC on Sunday.
The coach pointed out on several occasions that Messi did not suffer an injury at the start of the season, but he simply chose to rest the player to minimize the risks after launching the 2025 campaign with three games in the space of seven days.
Inter Miami will now prepare to face a horseman during the return match with most of the available list, seeing the return of defender Maxi Falcon after missing the match against Charlotte due to the leg during the action of the Champions Cup.
Miami between Thursday’s match with an advance of 2-0 against Cavalier after winning the first match at the Chase Stadium last week. Mascherano stressed that he was not taking anything for granted, although he has rejected the concerns concerning the conditions of the field in the capital of Jamaica
“We know that tomorrow we are going to play a difficult match for us. It is a game that is very important, not only for this week, but for the season because we had the chance to go to the quarterfinals,” said Mascherano.
“At the end, we obviously prefer if the field is good, better for us for the way we play. But anyway, we must play in the condition that the field is.”
If Inter Miami fulfills the victory in Jamaica, the team would face the opponent MLS Lafc in the quarterfinals.
