It was a moment to savor for fans around the world, and to feel some empathy for the defenders done dirty in the process.
In this case, it was Lucas Sanabria and Edwin Cerrillo who suffered – ‘posterized,’ to borrow a term from the NBA – as Lionel Messi returned from a two-week absence in characteristic fashion.
Entering at halftime after missing Inter Miami’s last two matches with a hamstring issue, the GOAT slalomed around the duo to uncork a trademark low strike from distance, then fed Luis Suárez an otherworldly no-look, heel-flick assist to provide the margin of victory in a 3-1 defeat of the LA Galaxy at Chase Stadium Saturday night.
The 45-minute cameo washed away the taste of Sunday’s 4-1 Florida Derby thumping at the hands of Orlando City, inspired his teammates – Suárez and Jordi Alba, IMCF’s other scorer, looked devastating on the night – and goosed the Herons back into the upper reaches of the standings.
Miami are now just a hair back of the leaders in both the Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield races when calculated in points-per-game average to reflect IMCF’s games in hand due to their FIFA Club World Cup participation, and while they’ve shown themselves to be a potent force without Messi, the power of his presence remains palpable.
“It was vital, I believe we’re all conscious of that,” head coach Javier Mascherano said in Spanish of the result postgame. “I'll repeat what I said last Sunday: You can lose matches, clearly, but it is not the image or the way we wanted to lose [at Orlando]. We wanted to demonstrate to ourselves that it was an accident, an aberration.”
Short-lived return?
Perhaps most remarkably, it’s not entirely clear that Messi is really, truly back from the injury.
The Argentine icon appeared to wince a bit after netting his game-winner, slightly favoring that troubled right leg – enough that reporters pressed Mascherano repeatedly for more information about the talisman’s status ahead of a weighty Leagues Cup quarterfinal showdown with Mexican titans Tigres UANL on Wednesday night (8 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+, FS1, UniMás).
“What happens is that he is an extraordinary player,” said the coach of his former teammate when asked what happens next. “What you saw, I saw. Clearly, he wasn't 100% comfortable. But the truth is, after a few minutes, he became looser and looser. We'll see how he finished, how much fatigue.
“In the end, he's two weeks post-injury. He had something minor; the three trainings that we had with him were good. And I repeat: the important thing is that he finished the match; I saw him improve through the minutes. He felt, he looked better. But at the end it’s how he's feeling tomorrow, how he wakes up.”
Late-season grind
Wednesday looms as an outsized occasion not just because of the trophy, prize money and Concacaf Champions Cup spots on the line in Leagues Cup, but also due to the caliber of the opponent. Tigres are LIGA MX royalty, stacked with elite talent and well-versed in inflicting misery on MLS sides over the years. Miami would surely prefer to have Messi available for such a daunting test.
But many other tests await just beyond it, too, especially if they’re serious about defending their Shield title. The Herons must fly north to Washington for a weekend visit to D.C. United (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass), then travel for three of their five matches in September.
“Every game that we have is a final from now on,” declared Mascherano. “I have to generate the habit that every game from now until the end of the regular season is life or death. We have to win; if we must lose, the adversary has to really work for it, not be given it on a silver platter.”
And in that context, Mascherano might deserve almost as much sympathy as the aforementioned defenders Messi shoved into a blender. Because it’s his job to tell the star man when it’s time to rest or be rotated with the long term in mind.
“He wants to play every single game,” said Mascherano with a small shrug and a weary smile. “He wanted to play in Orlando, also. It was impossible. But it's like this. You have to understand why Leo is Leo; because [he] always wants to be on the pitch. He's happy there.
“So sometimes we try to explain to him, [we’re] trying to go slowly. But in the end, when he feels good, he knows himself like no one [else]. So we tried to give him today some minutes to start to find a good feeling for the week, for Wednesday, for the next games.”
