Lionel Messi returns to action with Inter Miami on Wednesday night, on the road against Los Angeles FC for the first of two Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal matches between the MLS clubs. Messi is in the starting lineup, Inter Miami announced before the game. He was expected to play, but Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano was coy on sharing if Messi would start the match or come off the bench, and about how much he would play since the reigning MLS MVP recently returned from an adductor strain in his left leg. “We will see. I expect that he will be fit for [Wednesday], and he can play … You will know at the beginning of the game,” Mascherano said during a Tuesday night news conference in Los Angeles, referring to Inter Miami’s starting lineup that will be announced about an hour before they play LAFC. Stay tuned here for live updates from USA TODAY Sports: LAFC forward Nathan Ordaz, 21, scored a right boot in the 57th minute to help his side take a 1-0 lead against Messi and Inter Miami. Ordaz’s goal comes with some controversy: He avoided a red card and remained in the game after a kerfuffle with an Inter Miami player in the first half. Lionel Messi appears fit and spry, but not as sharp as he’d like to be after missing two free kicks during a scoreless first half between Inter Miami and LAFC in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal. Inter Miami has controlled possession for the most part in the match, while LAFC has also missed out on three opportunities before halftime. A turning point in the first half: LAFC forward Nathan Ordaz was issued a yellow card, not a red card, after appearing to slap Inter Miami defender Maxi Falcón in the 27th minute. LAFC avoided an ejection and playing with just 10 players for the rest of the match. Two free kicks, and two misses by Messi in Los Angeles. Messi’s kick in the 37th minute was lofted into the hands of LAFC goalie Hugo Lloris for his first save of the game. Messi was tripped by LAFC defender Eddie Segura to create the opportunity. Lionel Messi was unable to score on a free kick in the 17th minute for Inter Miami against LAFC goalie Hugo Lloris. It’s the first time Lloris (France) is defending against Messi since the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar. Check out this highlight dribble up the pitch by Messi, which ended with Inter Miami’s Luis Suarez being tripped up by LAFC defender Igor Jesus to create the free-kick opportunity. LAFC and Inter Miami will kickoff at 8:30 p.m. local time in Los Angeles, or 11:30 p.m. ET and 12:30 a.m. Wednesday in Argentina. The game will be played at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The match will be available on FS1 in English and ViX in Spanish in the United States. Messi is a starter for Inter Miami in tonight’s match. Messi scored a goal two minutes after coming off the bench for Inter Miami in the second half of the club’s 2-1 win against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night. Messi played about 45 minutes in his first match in 13 days at the time. He was diagnosed with a low-grade adductor strain in his left thigh after feeling discomfort in Inter Miami’s match at Atlanta United March 16. Messi did not join Argentina for World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay March 21 and Brazil March 25. “The most important thing is that he finished the game against Philadelphia very well… After the game and everything I’ve been able to talk to him about, he was very good, happy to be able to have good feelings,” Mascherano said after the Philly game. Messi and the World Cup trophy reunited with a kiss during an event Sunday night in Los Angeles promoting the 2026 tournament alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino and fellow adidas athlete Patrick Mahomes, quarterback of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs. Messi was joined by his Inter Miami teammates Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and their wives for David Beckham’s 50th birthday party celebration Saturday night in Miami before flying to Los Angeles the next day. Popular Inter Miami security guard Yassine Cheuko (known on social media as ‘Messi’s bodyguard’) will no longer roam the sidelines during games, USA TODAY reported Tuesday. Under Mascherano, the former Barcelona and Argentine teammate of Messi, Inter Miami has been unbeaten in nine consecutive games to start the 2025 season — not bad for a first time head coach. Inter Miami is on a seven-game win streak with eight wins and a draw across all competitions. They are first in the MLS Eastern Conference with 13 points in the standings. They reached the Champions Cup quarterfinals by beating Sporting Kansas City and Jamaica Cavalier FC. LAFC is in the Champions Cup quarterfinal after ousting the Colorado Rapids and Columbus Crew in earlier rounds of the tournament. But LAFC enters the match with four losses in their last five games. LAFC sits in eighth place with nine points in the MLS Western Conference standings.
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