Inter Miami forwards Lionel Messi (10) and Luis Suárez (9) arrive to Chase Stadium before their MLS match against Toronto FC on Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner [email protected]
Lionel Messi is in uniform for the Inter Miami game against Toronto FC Sunday night, as are Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.
They all arrived at Chase Stadium with their teammates, so they are expected to be on the game roster. It remains to be seen if they will play, or for how long, but they will be available.
The biggest question coming into the game is whether Messi and the other key starters would play because the league matchup against Toronto is sandwiched between the first and second legs of the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal series against LAFC.
Miami lost the opening leg 1-0 on the road in Los Angeles on Wednesday night and the home leg is this upcoming Wednesday.
The Champions Cup uses aggregate scoring, and away goals are the tiebreaker, so Los Angeles will advance with a win, tie, or a single-goal loss so long as they score an away goal Wednesday at Chase Stadium. If Miami wins 1-0 on Wednesday, the game goes into extra time and the winner advances.
Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano is expected to rotate at least some of the lineup for the Toronto game, but he kept his plans to himself in the leadup.
One standout player likely to play on Sunday is Sergio Busquets because he is suspended for the game on Wednesday due to yellow card accumulation.
“We have an idea what we’re going to do, but it hasn’t even been 48 hours since the game against Los Angeles, so we have to see, as always, how each player recovers,” Mascherano said Friday morning. “We have two games so close together so we have to figure out how we can put two competitive teams out there Sunday and Wednesday.”
He dismissed the notion that he would overlook or sacrifice Sunday’s game.
“Obviously, Wednesday is very important for us, but we can’t let our guards down for MLS,” Mascherano said. “I think it’s always important after a loss to quickly turn things around and start to have a positive momentum. That’s what we’re looking for on Sunday. So, the last thing we should do is throw the Sunday game. We must play a good game to leave us with a good feeling heading into Wednesday.”
Toronto FC is coached by two-time MLS Defender of the Year Robin Fraser, who grew up in Miami and starred at FIU. Although the team is winless, it held Western Conference leader Vancouver Whitecaps to a scoreless draw last week.
Miami is 4-0-1 and in first place in the Eastern Conference Standings, 11 points ahead of Toronto 0-4-2.
“Certainly another huge, huge test for us,” Fraser said. “We don’t even need to go into the amount of talent that they have on that team.
“I think because they are so talented they can afford to rest a few people, but it doesn’t make them really less dangerous,” Fraser added. “What’s a break? You don’t get Messi, but you get (Luis) Suarez, (Jordi) Alba and (Sergio) Busquets? Obviously, you take Messi off the field, that changes things. But if you take him off the field, you still have a lot of really good players. A lot of really experienced players, guys who can hurt you in different ways.”
