By James Nalton
The Messi question
Lionel Messi hasn’t featured in an MLS match since February 22nd when he played the full 90 minutes in the season opener against New York City.
He has since missed the wins against Houston Dynamo and Charlotte FC, as well as the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup last 16 tie against Jamaican side Cavalier.
He did return for the second leg against Cavalier in Kingston on Thursday night, coming off the bench in the second half and scoring in the final minutes of the game to give Inter Miami a 4-0 aggregate victory.
With Miami already in charge of the tie, this could be seen as a move by head coach Javier Mascherano to get Messi back in the groove ahead of making an appearance against Atlanta United on Sunday.
An (unexpected?) resilience
Inter Miami’s recent image is one of flamboyant, big-name signings and individual star performances, but throughout their Messi-era they have also had to rely on hard-fought narrow victories.
These types of performances have been required in most games so far this season, having had a player sent off in all three of their MLS matches so far in 2025.
Two of those red cards came in the first half, but they still managed to claim points in those games — a 2-2 draw against New York City in the season opener, and a 1-0 win against Charlotte last weekend.
Mascherano is still a relative unknown quantity as a coach, but this ability to win ugly and without Messi has been promising for Miami’s chances come the playoffs at the end of the season.
Tadeo Allende’s impact
Mascherano has to take some credit for Inter Miami’s resilient start. But the team has been helped by very useful performances from some new players.
We picked out Telasco Segovia as a player to watch ahead of the game against Houston, and he has certainly lived up to that billing, scoring twice in a 4-1 win in that game, but the other standout attacker in Messi’s absence, aside from Luis Suárez, has been new signing on loan from Celta Vigo, Tadeo Allende.
The 26-year-old Argentine has scored in both his MLS starts, including netting the all-important goal in the win against Charlotte, and has also scored twice in the Champions Cup.
Playing from either flank, he has the highest average FotMob rating of any Miami player not named Messi or Suárez.
What about Atlanta?
With a new head coach, the return of a club legend, and a league record signing, Atlanta have stated their intention to challenge Inter Miami for MLS honours this season.
Ex-Celtic manager Ronny Deila arrived as the team’s new head coach having won the MLS Cup previously with New York City FC, Miguel Almirón returned to the side where he made his name before joining Newcastle, and Emmanuel Latte Lath joined from Middlesbrough for a reported £22.5m — the highest transfer fee ever paid by an MLS team.
Atlanta are still trying to get all these new parts to click and have only won one of their three games this season, but their intention of challenging at the top is clear.
Having knocked Inter Miami out of the playoffs in an upset last season, they will be looking to do something similar in 2025.
Prediction
A 2-2 draw. With no more Champions Cup games until April, Inter Miami can focus solely on MLS, but Atlanta will be up for this game, as will their fans in the Mercedes-Benz stadium, which should be rocking for such a big match.
(Cover Image from IMAGO)
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