Lionel Messi and Inter Miami can officially seal his place on Wednesday evening in the MLS Cup -Play -offs when it visits a New York City FC side that has conquered his postseason location in the weekend.
A draw would be enough to secure that play-off place, and a victory would take Miami (15-6-7, 52 points) above fourth place New York City (16-9-5, 53 points) and Charlotte FC in third place in the Eastern Conference classification.
And although a second consecutive supporters’ Shield title might be unlikely – Miami comes in on Wednesday with leaders of the leaders Philadelphia with eight points with three games in hand – Manager Javier Mascherano wants to build up regardless of Momentum.
Miami comes back-to-back home victories at DC United and Seattle.
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«It is a very important victory because we earned the six points we needed here at the end of this week,» said Mascherano after Saturday’s 3-2 victory over DC United. «We have moved in the rankings and we still have a number of games in hand. If we can get good results, we can climb even higher and end up at the top of the table.»
Messi scored two goals and assisted a third in the victory over DC. He is bound for the MLS lead with 22 goals-two more than he scored while he was limited to 19 regular seasonal matches in 2024 and can go back for Lafc’s Denis Bouanga when his next goal comes during this match.
Vooruit Luis Suarez will also return from a suspension of three games that came from a spitting incident after the loss of Miami in Seattle in the final of the Leagues Cup in August.
NYCFC also comes in on a three-game extraction streak and as victors of five of their last six. Recently they killed Charlotte at home 2-0 on Saturday afternoon to stop the MLS-Record-Tying Nine-game winning streak of the Crown.
Alonso Martinez leads NYCFC with 17 goals. The most important additions such as Brazilian defender Raul Gustavo and Argentinian winger Nicolas Fernandez Mercau contributed to a significant improvement after the break of the League Cup.
«They bring the extra quality that we were looking for, and both are flexible enough to play multiple positions, which helps the team to maintain high standards,» said NYCFC -Coach Pascal Jensen. «In terms of mentality, they are winners. They have brought energy and a winning mindset to the group. We are very happy that they have chosen to participate in our project and you have seen their impact in recent games.»
Published on September 24, 2025
