Columbus Crew react to facing Inter Miami without Lionel Messi, road winning streak
For the first time since Inter Miami signed Lionel Messi in July 2023, the Crew will face the club, but there will be no Messi in the lineup.
With Argentina participating in Copa America, Messi will miss Wednesday's match against Columbus.
Miami striker Luis Suarez is also on international duty, with Uruguay, for the tournament and midfielder David Ruiz and defender Tomas Aviles are suspended due to receiving red cards.
"Speaking for myself, obviously I'd loved to play against those players," said Crew midfielder Max Arfsten. "I guess it’s a little frustrating, but at the same time, they’re the opposition with or without those players, and anytime you play a team on the road, it’s not going to be easy."
The Crew enter the game at nearly full strength, minus forward Jacen Russell-Rowe, who is representing Canada in Copa America and backup goalkeeper Evan Bush, who is still recovering from a forearm injury.
Forward Christian Ramirez said Miami is still a "great side" despite the missing players, with talent such as former Crew 2023 MLS Cup champion Julian Gressel still available for Miami, but can recognize the situation the upcoming opponent is in.
"I think we’ve been on the opposite side early on in the year," Ramirez said. "Knowing that we’ve had Champions Cup and dealt with little knocks and injuries, so teams haven’t had us at full strength. So, we’re on the opposite side this time, but we have to take advantage of it."
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'Understanding what it takes to win on the road'
Last year, the Crew won just four games on the road throughout the MLS regular season. Still less than halfway through the 2024 season, they have matched that total, and are on the cusp of breaking the club record for most consecutive MLS road victories with five.
The Crew had yet to pick up a road victory this season before they started this long stretch of matches on the road on May 15 in Montreal. Before Columbus reached the final of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, two games at Lower.com Field were scheduled to take place between the road Orlando City SC match on May 25 and the road New York City FC match on June 14, but those were rescheduled for later in the season.
Throughout the six straight road games the Crew have played in over a month, Columbus dropped only the Champions Cup title match against CF Pachuca. Riding a 4-0 MLS road match winning streak, players have noticed their confidence on the road improving.
"(We're just) understanding what it takes to win on the road, and still being able to bring that home mentality on the road," Ramirez said. "We did it for stretches last year but couldn’t complete games. And now we’re seeing that even when we do play 70 minutes really well and we have to dig out a win the last 20 minutes, we’re able to do that."
Arfsten said the biggest factor in being able to pull out second-half wins on the road is the Crew "being more comfortable and calm in those hectic moments." Using the NYCFC match from Friday as an example, Arfsten saw the Crew went down 1-0 despite being up a man following a New York red card in the first half but were still able to come out after halftime and win 3-2.
Crew coach Wilfried Nancy is choosing to focus on this successful stretch in a similar way but said he does not view it as the Crew's playing ability on the road vs at home, but rather the ability to overcome unfamiliar factors that occur on the road, such as the expected heat in Miami on Wednesday.
"When we play away, it's the same," Nancy said. "We're going to have other adversity, it could be the pitch, it could be the opposition, it could be the crowd, it could be the momentum. So, what can we do to get better in this situation? So, this is the message."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Lionel Messi won't play for Inter Miami vs Columbus Crew
