Messi and Ronaldo will reunite for an Inter Miami preseason match in the MLS.
Preseason warm-ups for an average Major League Soccer team typically involve little to no travel, and games are frequently held in private or without a live feed. If anything, they are absurdly low-key events.
Inter Miami is unquestionably not like other MLS teams in the Lionel Messi era.
The Riyadh Season Cup 2024, a three-team competition scheduled for early February in Saudi Arabia, will feature Messi and Miami. Turki AlAlShikh, the Chairman of the General Authority for Entertainment in Saudi Arabia, announced the event on social media X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.
Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and the rest of the Miami team will play against Al Nassr, Sadio Mané, Cristiano Ronaldo, and an Al Hilal team that includes Neymar.
A press release published by AlAlShikh stated, “Riyadh Season and Inter Miami CF have agreed to hold the Riyadh Season Cup matches as part of Riyadh Season activities.” The competition is slated to take place in the first week of February 2024, and players from each of the participating clubs will compete.
On Tuesday, none of the three teams rumored to be taking part in the competition provided formal confirmation.
Any Major League Soccer team willing to invest the millions of dollars necessary to sign a player such as Lionel Messi would expect to play a lucrative preseason friendly. It’s not at all unusual; in fact, Miami was scheduled to play two friendlies in China recently, but those plans fell through.
But there’s a contrast that’s important to note in.
With its matches against Al Nassr and Al Hilal guaranteed to be televised worldwide, Miami will be establishing itself in the Middle East for approximately a week, while the majority of MLS clubs will be in states like California, Florida, or Arizona. Miami has selected roughly the largest stage possible for preseason friendly play, in contrast to the MLS standard of practically hiding during the preseason.
When Messi’s team has faced Ronaldo’s over the years, Messi has generally prevailed. Messi’s teams have an impressive 17W-9D-11L record against teams that feature Ronaldo, largely because of Barcelona’s period of relative dominance against Real Madrid when both players were in La Liga.
