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Lionel Messi is expected to feature when Inter Miami take on El Salvador in a friendly on Friday (January 19) at the Estadio Cuscatlan in San Salvador. The Florida-based side officially begin their pre-season ahead of the 2024 season.
Messi, along with his former Barcelona teammates Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and new signing Luis Suarez are part of the squad that has traveled to El Salvador. Inter Miami manager Tata Martino, however, has made it quite clear that his star players like Lionel Messi will have limited game time in these initial friendly matches.
Martino was quoted as saying (via Yahoo Sport):
“We understand the business side and sport side, and we try to have both coexist without exceeding one or the other. We have to balance how much each players participates."
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He added:
"The games in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Japan were planned from the end of last season, and we will be ready for those. The question is how we we manage the first two games against El Salvador and Dallas because those are so soon. We will have to made decisions about how many minutes certain players can play in those games.”
Based on Martino's comments, it is highly unlikely that Lionel Messi will play for the full 90 minutes against El Salvador on Friday. The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner could make an appearance off the bench in the second half as he gradually returns to match fitness ahead of the new season.
It is worth mentioning that Messi had limited game time for Inter Miami towards the tail end of the 2023 season as he was recovering from a muscular injury. However, he has since last a couple of games for Argentina in their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Lionel Messi could once again be reunited with his strike partners from last season in the form of Robert Taylor and Leonardo Campana against El Salvador. However, his reunification with his former Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez is something to look forward to in these pre-season games.
How many pre-season friendlies are Inter Miami and Lionel Messi scheduled to play?
Lionel Messi will begin his first full season in the United States this year. Inter Miami are scheduled to play seven friendly games ahead of the 2024 Major League Soccer (MLS) season.
Following their game against El Salvador, the Herons will play fellow MLS side FC Dallas in Texas on January 22.
They will then travel to Saudi Arabia to compete in the Riyadh Cup where they will face Al-Hilal (January 29) and Al-Nassr (February 1). Lionel Messi is expected to face his long-term rival Cristiano Ronaldo in the latter game.
Inter Miami will then travel further east in Asia. They will take on the Hong Kong Team on February 4 before facing Japanese side Vissel Kobe in Tokyo on February 7.
Inter Miami's final pre-season game will be at home against Argentine side Newell's Old Boys on February 15. Their first MLS game is against Real Salt Lake a week later.
