Ahead of the match against LAFC in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals, Javier Mascherano spoke at a press conference and previewed his team’s upcoming clash. It’s a difficult game against one of the most powerful teams in MLS, and in a competition that is presented as one of the great objectives of the Florida team.
And as with any difficult match, it is always better to have the best weapons available, and in this case, Lionel Messi is one of them. The Rosario native has added some minutes against Philadelphia Union, a rival against whom he scored a goal almost three minutes after entering from the bench. Leo showed a good level and did not look bad physically, something that has been bothering him lately.
And for the game against LAFC, many are wondering if Messi will be able to start or if he will return to enter from the bench. “We’ll see, I hope Leo is ready for tomorrow and can play, but you’ll realize it before the start of the game,” commented the Inter Miami coach on this topic.
The idea is always to have the team’s captain available, but they also don’t want to force him to start and resent his muscle injury. That’s why they will wait until the last moment to see if he plays from the start or if he waits on the bench. “The most important thing is that he finished the game well against Philadelphia, the reality is that yesterday we have returned to training, on Sunday we gave them rest, so today we will finish seeing his sensations,” he added.
Ustari also a doubt
Another player who is also in doubt for the next game is Ustari, who left with discomfort against Philadelphia. In this case, Mascherano indicated that the goalkeeper is already better, although he preferred not to give clues about who will be under the sticks: “Oscar is fine, but I’m not going to say who is going to play tomorrow.”
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Finally, he also stressed the importance of this match and this competition, where Inter Miami is already among the best eight: “We know that we are in an important stage of the competition, for a club like Inter Miami with such a short time it would be to take an important step.”
Mascherano’s comments highlight the importance of the Concacaf Champions Cup for Inter Miami. The competition offers the team a chance to compete against the best clubs in the region and to qualify for the Club World Cup.
