Major League Soccer might have a budding rivalry on its hands.
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will face Nashville SC to begin their Concacaf Champions Cup Round-of-16 matchup, with the first leg of the series Thursday night in Nashville, Tennessee. The second leg will be March 13 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The teams will also meet four times this year after those matches – the most any opponent has faced Messi. Both sides played to a draw in their last matchup, but the first time they met Messi last year was a memorable one. Messi hoisted Inter Miami’s first championship trophy after beating Nashville in the Leagues Cup final Aug. 19, 2023, which Inter Miami won 1-1 (10-9) after penalty kicks.
The Inter Miami vs. Nashville SC match will kickoff at 9 p.m. ET (8 p.m. CT) at GEODIS Park in Nashville, Tenn.
The match is available in English on FS2 and in Spanish on TUDN.
WATCH: Messi and Inter Miami vs. Nashville SC in the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Fubo
TICKETS: See Messi and Inter Miami in person vs. Nashville SC
Safid Deen, Lionel Messi reporter: Inter Miami 3, Nashville SC 0
Nashville will play Inter Miami close early, but Messi and Inter Miami are well-rested and coming off a heater against Orlando City last week. Messi scores once, and has an assist to Luis Suarez, while one other Inter Miami player, let’s say Julian Gressel, finds the back of the net in a 3-0 win.
Jacob Shames, Nashville SC beat writer for The Tennessean: Inter Miami 2, Nashville SC 0
Even if Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge don't play, Nashville's defensive structure still will frustrate Messi and Suarez, but Inter Miami's superior talent will overwhelm when it's all said and done. But if Nashville is at or close to full strength, can it generate offense to match? In that regard, there's little to go off of.
Messi scored twice, while Luis Suarez had two goals and two assists during Inter Miami’s 5-0 victory over Orlando City last Saturday. Inter Miami is 2-1-0 (win-draw-loss) through three games of the 2024 MLS season.
Inter Miami is pursing the Champions Cup, will defend its Leagues Cup title, and hopes to compete for the MLS Cup by season’s end. Messi is also expected to join Argentina in this summer’s Copa America 2024, while his participation in the Paris Olympics is unlikely but still up in the air.
“I think that with the pressure on us, we’re conscious of the team, and what we’ve built and we are going to prepare ourselves to fight for the MLS title,” Messi said during a postgame interview with Apple TV last Saturday.
“We know that is a long road and it's just getting started, but the reality is that all of us are aware that we have a group ready to compete and we are going to go for it. It is also important that we start the season off well, especially in the first few games because then the league will pause, and other tournaments will begin.”
SHOP: Get the latest Messi and Inter Miami gear from the MLS Store
Nashville has only one goal and played to draws in their first two MLS games this season, but advanced past Dominican team Moda FC 7-0 on aggregate to reach the Champions Cup Round of 16.
Nashville has been without standouts Hany Mukhtar (hamstring) and Sam Surridge (left shoulder), Randall Leal (hamstring) to start the season. They finished in scoreless draw against the New York Red Bulls on Feb. 25, and finished 1-1 against the Colorado Rapids last Saturday.
Nashville was eliminated by Orlando in the first round of the MLS playoffs last November.
Inter Miami and Nashville each have a regular-season match Sunday before the second leg of their Champions Cup matchup.
Nashville hosts L.A. Galaxy at 3 p.m. ET, while Inter Miami will host CF Montreal at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday.
The second leg of their matchup will be at Inter Miami’s Chase Stadium on March 13 at 8:15 p.m. ET.
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