Messi surprises, Inter Miami climbs to CONCACAF top 2

Messi surprised the American press when he still showed his full strength despite having played an average of 3 matches per day in recent matches. At the same time, Inter Miami rose to the top 2 of the CONCACAF club rankings.

Knowing Messi is coming, Columbus Crew moves to a stadium with "huge" capacity

Messi’s fitness is not only good news for Inter Miami, but also for the clubs they will face in the near future. Specifically, Columbus Crew in the 8th round of MLS (American professional soccer league) and Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-finals. These matches will take place on April 20 and 25, respectively, with Messi and his teammates playing away.

Messi surprisingly remains fit despite playing at a very high frequency, 3 matches per day.

Photo: Reuters

The Columbus Crew usually plays at Lower.com Field, which holds just over 20,000 spectators. But recently, they decided to move to Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, which holds up to 67,431 spectators, to host Messi and Inter Miami. The team is using Messi's appeal to increase ticket sales.

Messi played the entire 90 minutes in the 0-0 draw with Chicago Fire FC on April 14. In this match, the Argentine star also helped his opponent set a record for the highest number of viewers in the club's history, with 62,358 people watching at Soldier Field.

This is the fourth consecutive match that Messi has returned to play after being injured. In total, since the beginning of the season, the 37-year-old has not played in 3 matches, including 2 matches resting to recover from injury and 1 match sitting on the bench for 90 minutes. The remaining 10 matches, including 5 in MLS and 5 in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, he has scored 8 goals and had 3 assists.

After consecutive matches with a high density of 3 days/match and alternating away matches with urgent travel, American newspapers such as Deporte Total USA and Miami Herald all predicted that Messi would be given a rest. The same is true for his close friend, striker Suarez. Meanwhile, Busquets and Jordi Alba avoided overload, because they had to miss 1-2 matches due to suspension and had only recently returned.

Latest CONCACAF Club Rankings for April

Photo: CONCACAF/X screenshot

However, surprisingly, Messi recently still practiced with his teammates. Therefore, coach Mascherano still included Messi in the list of players for the next away match when Inter Miami meets Columbus Crew (at 3:30 a.m. on April 20).

This is great news for Columbus Crew fans, as they have bought tickets to Huntington Bank Field to watch their idols play. It is likely that this match will once again set a record for attendance, as in the recent match at Soldier Field, when the 67,431 spectators at Huntington Bank Field were almost sold out, according to Deporte Total USA .

Meanwhile, Inter Miami received good news when they climbed to the top 2 in the CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) club rankings, thanks to their achievement of reaching the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup with 5 wins, 1 loss. Inter Miami finished behind Cruz Azul, who beat Club America 2-1 on aggregate, and also entered the semi-finals against Tigres UANL (also from Mexico).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/messi-gay-kinh-ngac-inter-miami-len-top-2-concacaf-185250417094211682.htm