aAfter a goalless draw in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16, Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami must win to advance, but Nashville won’t make it easy.
Coach BJ Callahan’s side are also hoping to advance to the next round, and the manager himself says they will do everything in their power to secure victory.
Strong warning to Messi from Nashville
Javier Mascherano’s team boasts one of the greatest players of all time, Lionel Messi. While this may be an advantage for Inter Miami, it is also a huge headache for their opponents. Because you have to think about how to stop him before he takes a shot on goal that turns out to be fatal.
In a press conference ahead of the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the Nashville coach made it clear that his team needs to play with physical strength to stop the Argentine captain.
“They’re a good team, a combative team in a good way, right? We’ve got to win duels. We’ve got to be strong on the ball. We’ve got to be a little bit physical. But I thought it was really good to be able to change the pace. So we were able to build the play more slowly. But then when we were able to pass the ball and break through the line, the game sped up and that’s what I thought was really good,” Callahan said. Messi and Inter Miami at a press conference (via DSports).
Although Lionel didn’t have an outstanding performance in the first leg, he is known as a decisive player, not only because he scores goals (he has three in the four games he has played this season), but also because he knows when to pass the ball to a teammate and provide a great assist. That’s why the coach has made it clear that applying pressure, changing the pace of the game and not finding spaces that can negatively impact the team will be key to avoiding goals from the number 10 that could take them out of the competition.
Mascherano also knows that Leo’s presence on the field could change the outcome, which is why he decided not to play Argentina’s match against Charlotte in MLS, where the team once again drew 0-0.
However, the plan to neutralize Messi means that the 38-year-old star will not have a personal chance to reach 900 goals and could end up just 65 goals shy of the 965 goals of Cristiano Ronaldo, currently two of soccer’s all-time leading scorers.
Meanwhile, Inter Miami must win against Nashville SC on Wednesday, March 18th at 6pm ET if they want to avoid overtime and elimination. Since they were unable to score at Geodis Park, a tie (other than 0-0) would have given Nashville the win to play as the away team.
This rematch promises a fierce showdown between two teams who know each other well and will fight tooth and nail to advance to the next round of the tournament.
