For New York Red Bulls fans excited about the chance to see soccer icon Lionel Messi in person on Saturday, they may have to wait until next year when Inter Miami CF next visits Red Bulls Arena in 2024.
In just a few weeks, Lionel Messi has taken MLS by storm. The former Paris Saint Germain and Barcelona star has been worth every dollar spent thus far for Inter Miami as he was a dominant force during the recent US Open Cup tournament. In eight games, the 36-year-old scored an unbelievable 10 times.
Related: Soccer games today – Get watch times for the next MLS and Premier League matches
The club that is currently at the bottom of the MLS standings in the Eastern Conference blasted their way to the cup finals earlier this week and has remained unbeaten since Messi put on the classic pink jersey of Inter Miami. However, in that time, the aging great has logged a ton of minutes, and sooner or later a maintenance day had to come.
- Lionel Messi net worth: $600 million
Lionel Messi could take a maintenance day on Saturday versus Red Bulls
Unfortunately for New York soccer fans, they may not be able to see the futbol legend up close on Saturday as originally planned. On Friday afternoon, Inter manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino revealed that the team is contemplating sitting Lionel Messi for their 7:30 PM ET match against the Red Bulls. And it may be the first of many times the soccer superstar during his tenure with the club.
“We will assess further after this evening’s training,” Martino said on Friday. “It is inevitable that we will not have him at some point. This will happen at least three times this year, and next year more. We will have to find a solution.”
After coming in at halftime for his unofficial MLS debut earlier this month, the Argentinian has played every single minute of the last seven Inter matches, including all 120 in the semifinal match against FC Cincinnati that went to penalty kicks.
The 2022 World Cup champion showed signs of exhaustion in that semifinal match, but gutted out that game and then flew with the team from Ohio to New York that night.
Inter Miami will face Houston in the US Open Cup finals next month. Their next game on the MLS schedule is against Nashville SC on Aug. 30.