Messi, who has just recovered from injury, made his first return after a two-month absence, but played the full 90 minutes in Inter Miami's 3-1 win over Philadelphia Union on September 15. In this match, Messi scored twice and provided an assist for Suarez to seal the win.
Messi shows that he is very energetic after just returning to competition.
However, the fact that this famous player and his close friend, Suarez, both 37 years old, are about to play 2 more consecutive away matches within 1 week is quite rare since they both played for Inter Miami. Physical barriers, injuries and age are the reasons why Messi and Suarez have rarely played 2 consecutive matches with a frequency of 3 days/match in the past year.
Inter Miami will play Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 6:30 a.m. on September 19. Their next match will be at Yankee Stadium against New York City FC at 1 a.m. on September 22. Both away games attracted huge crowds of 50,000 or more, according to MLS Moves on social network X (formerly Twitter), due to the presence of both Messi and Suarez.
Atlanta United are currently in 10th place in MLS, but beat Inter Miami 3-1 in the first leg at Chase Stadium. Meanwhile, New York City FC are currently in 6th place, drawing 1-1 with Inter Miami in the first leg. Both teams are still in the race for a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs at the end of October.
Messi and Suarez both participated in the away match, causing fans in Atlanta and New York to rush to buy tickets to watch.
Meanwhile, Inter Miami have already secured a spot in the playoffs. They are aiming to win the Supporters' Shield, awarded to the team with the best record in the MLS points round, thanks to their impressive results in other matches. Inter Miami have won 19 matches, drawn 5 and lost only 4, ranking first in the MLS standings.
Most of Inter Miami's key wins came during Messi's absence (a total of three months, from June 1 to August 31), with eight wins and just one loss. Messi's most recent return (a win over Philadelphia Union) was his ninth.
This series of achievements helps Inter Miami in the remaining 6 matches in the MLS qualifying round, only need to win 3 more matches to secure the Supporters' Shield championship. This may be the reason why coach Tata Martino decided to bring both Messi and Suarez on the tour for 2 consecutive matches this week. Thereby, hoping to maintain the current winning streak, before returning home to host Charlotte FC (at 6:30 on September 29), to soon complete the goal of owning the Supporters' Shield championship title.
Messi is still at the top of the list of jersey sales for the entire 2024 MLS season so far
In the same development, the MLS (USA) organizers announced that Messi's return has caused a fever among fans across the US, who continue to hunt for this famous player's jersey, causing the number of jerseys sold to skyrocket.
Messi remains the top-selling player in the 2024 MLS season, despite missing the past three months. Suarez is next in second place. Inter Miami's other two stars, Busquets and Jordi Alba, are ranked 11th and 15th, respectively, to become the club with the most players in the top-selling MLS jersey rankings.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/messi-suarez-thi-dau-2-tran-san-khach-cua-inter-miami-lap-ky-luc-ban-ao-mls-185240918132135012.htm
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