Lionel Messi and Inter Miami hope to reach the next round of the MLS Cup Playoffs, but may have to do so without one of their most consistent players.
Messi’s longtime teammate Sergio Busquets, considered one of the best midfielders in the sport’s history, has been dealing with an illness this week. It’s unclear if he’ll travel or will play in Saturday’s match against Atlanta United.
Busquets was not seen practicing with his teammates Wednesday and Friday during the portions open to local media. His status will likely be announced when the MLS Player Availability report is released later Friday.
Inter Miami is up 1-0 in the best-of-three, first-round series after a 2-1 win Oct. 25. Saturday’s game begins at 7 p.m. ET inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where nearly 70,000 fans are expected to attend.
“Obviously there are many options, so we will see what suits us best,” Inter Miami’s Tata Martino, a finalist for MLS coach of the year, said regarding his lineup for Saturday’s match.
The match is available for free via MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
Inter Miami won the MLS Supporters’ Shield for the league’s best record, and even set a league record with 74 points in a season. But last Friday’s win against Atlanta was the club’s first of the season.
Atlanta was just one of four teams to beat Inter Miami this season. It also hosted and played Inter Miami to a 2-2 draw last month in front of 67,795 fans – the largest midweek crowd in franchise history and the third-largest in MLS history.
Atlanta may be down 1-0 in the series, but players said they have nothing to lose against Inter Miami – a team most expect to win MLS Cup because of Messi’s star power.
“Why do we have to be scared?” Atlanta’s Bartek Slisz said this week.
Messi’s first MLS Cup playoff game was a huge success for Apple TV, the league and his club, Inter Miami. But it was spoiled by the dynamic goalkeeping of Atlanta United’s Brad Guzan. The 40-year-old goalie finished with eight saves using his feet, hands and even his knee to keep Messi from scoring.
“He was phenomenal,” Martino said about Guzan, who he coached during his 2018 MLS Cup title run with Atlanta.
Atlanta also should be more rested for Saturday’s match. Before Game 1 of the series, the team played three matches in a span of six days – beating Orlando on the road in the season finale, then playing at Montreal in the Eastern Conference wild-card match before falling to Inter Miami last week.
“Our backs have been against the wall, and everyone’s counting us out and everyone’s saying we’re this or we’re that. That’s fine,” Guzan said after the first match with Miami. “The group in that locker room over the last few weeks, the belief has really grown. And when you have that, anything can happen.”
Anything can happen for Inter Miami, too, especially without Busquets, who played the second-most minutes of any Inter Miami player this season.
Inter Miami will likely resort to MLS rookies Yannick Bright and Federico Redondo in the midfield with defender Serhiy Kryvtsov on the back line.
“We want to get more aggressive. We have to be the aggressor. We have to win the game,” Atlanta’s Dax McCarty said. “We’re going to have 70,000 people behind us, and quite frankly we have nothing to lose. I think you’ll see a much different performance at home.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United: How to watch Messi playoff game
