Union

Is Lionel Messi Ducking the First-Place Philadelphia Union?

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 25th, 2025 · 1:45 PM EDT

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Maybe, maybe not:

Lionel Messi warms up with the rest of the Inter Miami squad ahead of the game against Philadelphia on Saturday.

It remains unclear whether he’ll be part of the match day roster after experiencing pain following the game against Atlanta United. pic.twitter.com/N9KJCmvPKW

— Lizzy Becherano (@lizzy_becherano) March 25, 2025

🚫 Messi a Doubt for the Weekend!

Lionel Messi favored and iced the injured left adductor area during parts of the open training session.

He sat idly by for spells, and all signs point to him missing this Saturday’s home game vs the Philadelphia Union.#InterMiamiCF #Messi𓃵 pic.twitter.com/xnzd7fU8Tp

— Franco Panizo (@FrancoPanizo) March 25, 2025

🏃‍♂️ Messi Back on the Training Field!

Lionel Messi continues his recovery from injury here on Tuesday morning during Inter Miami’s practice session ahead of the Saturday home match vs the Philadelphia Union.#InterMiamiCF #Messi𓃵 pic.twitter.com/JvmC6LRB0b

— Franco Panizo (@FrancoPanizo) March 25, 2025

Coincidentally, Miami and Philly are #1 and #2 in the MLSsoccer.com power rankings. Miami has three wins and a draw while the Union have four wins and a loss, so it’ll be a good early barometer for a Union team that is obviously getting a huge boost from the managerial change and the addition of new blood to the squad. They slipped up against Nashville two weekends ago, but came back with a heavily-rotated side and knocked off St. Louis with a set piece goal and clean sheet, ironically a Jim Curtin-type of win.

Even if Messi doesn’t play, Miami can go to… their three other former Barcelona superstars. That’s Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Luis Suarez. Those guys are surrounded by a bunch of talented young South Americans. Sadly, the Union have suffered some abysmal losses to Miami over the years. There was the home loss against a 9-man Inter team that was missing Messi, which resulted in Kevin Durant arguing with some Union fan on Twitter. They also choked bigly in the 2023 Leagues Cup semifinal, also played at Subaru Park. This team needs a win against Miami like a fish needs water. You go down there and beat these bums without Messi on their home field and now people are believing that the hot start is real, and not a fluke. If you lose, it’s not the end of the world, but maybe we fall back to Earth a little bit and shift gears towards Orlando at home on April 5th.

doop