There is all sorts of intrigue over whether Lionel Messi will show up at the Ballon d’Or ceremony Monday in London to possibly celebrate winning the award for a record ninth time.
Two days before the ceremony, the New York Red Bulls are more interested in devising ways to contain Messi when Inter Miami visit Harrison, N.J., on Saturday.
Messi spent Friday in Spain accepting the Princess of Asturias Award for Sport and will fly back to potentially damage New York’s playoff aspirations.
“We know that there will be moments where he’s able to find the ball,” Red Bulls coach Michael Bradley said about defending Messi. “We have to then have real good ideas and a real understanding of how we’re going to deal with some of those situations, how we want to make things difficult for him.”
New York (10-14-6, 36 points) is tied for ninth place in the Eastern Conference and three points behind eighth-place FC Cincinnati. The Red Bulls have two more wins than Toronto FC and would not have been tied on points with them if they did not take a 2-0 loss last week, in a game where New York attempted 15 shots and held possession for 65.3% of the contest.
New York held Messi without a goal contribution in its 2-2 tie at Miami on April 11. The Red Bulls head into Saturday coming off consecutive losses following an impressive 4-1 win over San Diego FC two weeks ago.
“We put up a good fight last time,” New York’s Julian Hall said. “We’re looking to come out with three points. So, hopefully that happens.”
Messi has helped Inter Miami (15-5-10, 55 points) hold down second place in the Eastern Conference. Miami holds a four-point lead over the third-place New England Revolution but cannot surpass conference leader Nashville SC with four matches to play.
Messi enters those final four games with an MLS-best 25 goals, and his 15 assists are tied with LAFC’s Son Heung-Min.
He has scored 13 goals in his past 11 league games, including a four-goal showing against Montreal on Aug. 29. He also has two other multi-goal games in that stretch, including two last week when Miami extended its winning streak to three and improved to 4-1-4 in its past nine games with a 3-1 victory at Atlanta.
“We should feel proud that he, through his own initiative, wants to be with us and wants to play,” Inter Miami coach Cristian Gonzalez said about Messi’s availability amid a heavy travel schedule.
–Field Level Media
