Messi and his Inter Miami teammates returned to training on September 26 to prepare for a series of three key MLS matches starting on September 29 against Charlotte FC, followed by two away matches against Columbus Crew (October 3) and Toronto FC (October 6). Their final match of the qualifying round will be against New England Revolution at home on October 20.

In these matches, Columbus Crew is the biggest rival that can compete for the Supporters’ Shield championship with Inter Miami (the team with the best record in the MLS scoring round, a total of 29 clubs).

Columbus Crew just lost to Club America (Mexico) with a score of 4-5 after a penalty shootout (1-1 draw in regular time), in the final match of Campeones Cup on September 26. Before that, Columbus Crew defeated Inter Miami with a score of 3-2 in the round of 16 of Leagues Cup and went straight to the championship.

The two teams are set to meet again in a match that could decide their chances of winning the Supporters’ Shield, with Inter Miami (currently on 64 points) needing only a draw. Meanwhile, Columbus Crew (56 points) must win to close the gap to eight points, with a game in hand.

This weekend, while Inter Miami hosts Charlotte FC (currently ranked 6th in the Eastern Conference), Columbus Crew must travel to DC United (also at 6:30 on September 29). It is likely that after this round, both teams will maintain the same distance before facing each other directly in the round in early October.

“Messi has just returned. He has recovered very well from his injury and is slowly regaining his rhythm. When he is not there, we try our best. Everything depends on us. But when he is back playing, it is clear that things will be very different.

We know that we just have to give him the ball and he will help us play our football. With Messi, we are very confident for the upcoming matches, regardless of whether we will face the strongest opponents like Columbus Crew,” David Ruiz expressed in an interview on September 26.

According to the Miami Herald : “Inter Miami has a lot of good news ahead of the decisive matches for the Supporters’ Shield championship, when they only need to win 8 points from the remaining 4 matches to secure the current leading position. And 10 points to break the MLS record (73 points) set by the New England Revolution in 2021.

Messi is training very energetically after 3 matches just returned to play with 1 win, 2 draws, 2 goals and 1 assist. Besides, the pillars Diego Gomez and Matias Rojas also returned after injuries, along with veteran midfielder Sergio Busquets after a penalty card and vacation, helping coach Tata Martino have the best squad to rotate the upcoming consecutive matches with a density of 3 days/match.

“Inter Miami’s current unbeaten record of seven games (five wins and two draws) is very likely to help the team achieve much-anticipated achievements in the final stages of the season, including the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup (played from late October),” the Miami Herald added.