The Chicago Fire host Inter Miami at Soldier Field on Saturday night. However, much to the disappointment of many in attendance, there will be a noticeable absence.
Lionel Messi, arguably the best soccer player in history, will miss out on the match for the second straight season.
The Argentina superstar was officially ruled out for Saturday’s match. Messi only recently returned to training after suffering an ankle injury during the Copa America final in July against Colombia.
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Ahead of the match, Inter Miami manager Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino didn’t rule out that Messi could play.
However, Messi was unable to recover in time, meaning fans in Chicago will have to wait another year to see him in action in MLS competition.
With or without Messi, the Fire are preparing for what they know is going to be a difficult match. Inter Miami still count on the likes of Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez. All more than capable of stepping up in Messi’s absence, which they’ve done so far.
“Yeah, we prepare for this like it’s a regular MLS game,” Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady said. “Obviously, it’s a higher profile game because we know it’s going to be in front of a bigger crowd and with some quality players on the other end.
“No matter who they put on the field, we’re studying them. We know what to expect, and we’ll have a game plan put in place. We definitely have been treating it like a regular game, preparing for it like a regular game.”
The Fire know what it’s like to play, and beat, Inter Miami without Messi.They did so last season, coming away with a 4-1 win in October of last year. It was one of the highlights of last season.
Chicago is going to try to take some lessons away from that match and apply them on Saturday.
“I would say lessons would be to start the game as sharp as you possibly can and as fast as you possibly can,” Brady said. “With a game like this, there’s really no room to warm up to the game. There’s really no room to allow yourself to break into the game, take your time. You’ve really got to, from the first whistle, start at 100 percent. That’s one of the biggest lessons I think I took from – especially this last game as well, but even last year’s game – can’t start slow.”
For fans disappointed to miss out on Messi, the Fire did offer single match buyers a $250 voucher off two or more new 2025 Chicago Fire season ticket memberships or $100 off two or more single match tickets for the 2025 home match against Inter Miami.
Those who had already purchased tickets, fans would get the chance to claim two free tickets to Fan Appreciation NIght on Oct. 19 against Nashville SC.
Inter Miami are comfortably in first place in the Eastern Conference while the Fire sit in 13th place. However, it is still an important match for the Fire. Chicago may sit in 13th place but are only two points back of the final playoff spot.