Messi will not play against Houston

Miami Herald: Inter Miami will rest its captain for Thursday’s Concacaf Champions Cup match in Jamaica.

Lionel Messi will miss Inter Miami’s regular season match Sunday in Houston, according to the Miami Herald. The Herons’ captain is not injured but coaches want to rest the 37-year-old icon before a midweek Champions Cup match Thursday in Jamaica. Megan Gibbs/Getty Images.

Sorry, Houston. The Inter Miami Traveling Messi Tribute Show will play Shell Energy Stadium Sunday without its main attraction.

According to Miami Herald soccer reporter Michele Kaufman, Lionel Messi did not travel with the Herons to H-Town. He’s not hurt, according to Kaufman; coaches want him well-rested before Inter Miami hosts Cavalier FC in a Champions Cup match Thursday.

In an official announcement from the club, the Dynamo have pledged free tickets to a later match for anyone who bought tickets to Sunday’s game. That attempt to placate fans upset about missing Messi has drawn criticism on social media.

Besides the MLS Cup, the Herons are competing for three other trophies in 2025: the Concacaf Champions Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and the Liga MX/MLS Leagues Cup.

Part of first-year Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano’s challenge will be to keep his players fit and rested while navigating a grueling schedule.

“Look, every situation and season is different and you have to put everything in context,” Mascherano said Friday, according to Kaufman. “…So, when we talk about being able to rotate and rest the players, we must see the context…. It is what it is, we adapt to the circumstances.”

And the circumstance? Inter Miami is trying to advance in a tournament U.S.-based clubs have won just three times since it began in 1962; for an organization as ambitious as Club Internacionale de Futbol Miami, that trumps one of 34 regular-season MLS matches.

To read Kaufman’s Miami Herald article, click here.

Expect to see familiar faces

Mascherano used a very different lineup against New York City FC in its MLS season opener last week than he did in the two first-round Champions Cup matchups against Kansas City; not so much “A” and “B” teams as a “tournament” side and an “MLS” side. I expect him to do the same Sunday.

Of course, there will be overlap. We’ll see some combination of the “Core Four” — Messi and former Barcelona teammates Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez — in every match.

When everyone’s healthy, I expect a “tournament” side to include Oscar Ustari in goal — sorry, Drake Callender, after missing two months with an adductor injury you’ll have to reclaim your starting position — with Alba and Chelo Weigandt at left and right wingbacks flanking Maxi Falcon and Tomas Aviles.

Busquets and Federico Redondo will form the double pivot in the defensive midfield, with Busquets orchestrating the attack and Redondo flying around the back offering defensive support.

Telasco Segovia, Messi and Tadeo Allende will play behind striker Suarez.

Against New York City FC, Mascherano started Noah Allen at left center back, David Ruiz paired with Busquets in the defensive midfield and Fafa Picault and Benjamin Cremaschi were the left and right wings.

Yannick Bright, who has missed the start of the season because of a cut leg, could work his way into the lineup in the defensive midfield, while Gonzalo Lujan and David Hernandez add depth at center back and Robert Taylor, primarily a left winger, gives Mascherano another option in attack. MLS veteran Julian Gressel featured at right back and right wing last year under former coach Tara Martino, but hasn’t played under Mascherano.

Dynamo hope to take next step

Houston coach Ben Olsen has returned the Dynamo to respectability; after finishing 13th in the Western Conference in 2022 with 36 points, the Dynamo have qualified for the playoffs in each of the past two seasons. Houston finished fourth with 51 points and won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (beating Inter Miami in the final) in 2023 before advancing to the Western Conference championship in the MLS Cup playoffs.

Last year, Houston earned more regular season points (54) but finished fifth in the conference and lost a hard-fought first round series to Seattle.

Olsen hopes the Dynamo can take the next step in his fourth year. For that to happen, newly acquired young phenom Jack McGlynn needs to take command in central midfield and Ezequiel Ponce, for whom the Dynamo paid a club record transfer fee last summer, needs to produce more than the 6 goals and single assist he’s contributed so far in half a season.

The Dynamo lost its opener 2-1 to Lone Star State rival FC Dallas, with midfielder Amine Bassi netting Houston’s lone goal.