Inter Miami and Lionel Messi’s pre-season tour continues in Riyadh with a clash with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr at the Kingdom Arena on Thursday night.
Two of the greatest footballers to ever grace the pitch will do battle once more, pitting them against one another for one last dance. Ronaldo and Messi, who’ve won a combined 13 Ballon d’Or awards between them, last met on 19 January 2023 when the Argentine’s Paris-Saint Germain triumphed 5-4.
Ronaldo and Al Nassr were slated to go on tour in China for a pair of friendlies against Zheijang and Shanghai Shenhua, but a muscular injury to the 38-year-old saw those plans scrapped. Al Nassr sit in second place in the Saudi Pro League table behind Al Hilal with 46 points from 19 games played while the former Real Madrid player has bagged 20 goals in 18 appearances this term.
On the other hand, the Herons’ pre-season hasn’t been that enjoyable as they finally scored their first goal in their preparations against Al Hilal in their 4-3 defeat on Monday night. Miami opened their pre-season up with a 0-0 draw with the El Salvador national team and a 1-0 defeat to fellow MLS side FC Dallas.
Messi converted from the spot early in the second half vs Al Hilal to open his account in 2024, but the Herons are searching for their first win of the pre-season.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the pre-season friendly in the Riyadh Season Cup.
Al Nassr vs Inter Miami H2H Record
This is the first time Al Nassr and Inter Miami have met in any competition.
Current Form (Last Five Games)
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, DAZN |
|
United States |
MLS Season Pass on Apple TV |
|
Canada |
MLS Season Pass on Apple TV |
Are you as excited as we are for our first game of 2024? 🔥💛 pic.twitter.com/lMO6UD1gCH
— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) January 29, 2024
Al Nassr are set to be without full-back Nawaf Al-Boushal and centre-back Abdullah Madu as the two are both recovering from their respective knocks. Winger Khalid Al-Ghannam is also expected to miss the clash while dealing with his own injury.
The elephant in the room that everyone wants to know about is whether Ronaldo will start the clash, and that still seems to be up in the air. The Manchester United legend wasn’t pictured in training on Monday, so we could see a scenario where he comes off the bench in the second half if he’s not fit enough to play from the jump.
Al Nassr predicted lineup vs Inter Miami (4-2-3-1): Alaqidi; Ghanam, Amri, Laporte, Telles; Al-Khaibari, Brozovic; Talisca, Fofana, Otavio; Mane.
Ruiz buries one to level the match in the 55th minute 👏 #AlHilalvsInterMiamiCF | 3-3 pic.twitter.com/UDZ6FdrilZ
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) January 29, 2024
The likes of Corentin Jean, Ian Fray and Franco Negri remain on the treatment table recovering from their respective long-term injuries and all are expected to be back in the mix in February or March.
But Miami’s injury woes don’t stop there. Rising star Facundo Farias is set to miss the 2024 MLS season with an ACL tear that was sustained in the clash against El Salvador, while Benjamin Cremaschi will miss two to three months after suffering a sports hernia injury.
Luis Suarez has started two straight games for Miami and it wouldn’t be a surprise for Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino to place Leo Campana up front with Messi against Al Nassr given the Uruguayan’s knee problems.
Inter Miami predicted lineup vs Al Nassr (5-3-2): Callender; Yedlin, Aviles, Kryvstov, Allen, Alba; Gressel, Busquets, Gregore; Messi, Campana.
While Miami have just played their third pre-season contest, Al Nassr haven’t taken the pitch since 30 December in their 4-1 victory over Al Taawoun, where Ronaldo was on the scoresheet. The Asian club have won five straight games in all competitions but face stiff competition against Miami and Messi.
While Miami have drawn one and lost two of their pre-season fixtures, they only lost by one goal in their defeats to Al Hilal and FC Dallas. They’ve managed to keep things close thus far in their international tour, and even if they haven’t managed to get in the win column, we can still expect a close affair come Thursday night at the Kingdom Arena.
With Miami’s stars still settling in with the rest of the squad, Al Nassr should have enough in them to get this one over the line.
Prediction: Al Nassr 3-2 Inter Miami
READ THE LATEST INTER MIAMI & LIONEL MESSI NEWS, RUMOURS & GOSSIP
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
90Mins
