The Columbus Crew sit eight points behind Inter Miami in the standings with only a scant few matches left in the MLS regular season. They lost their previous league encounter with the Herons in June, even with Leo Messi away on international duty – and the GOAT is now back in the IMCF fold after two months out injured.
The Ohioans do have a game in hand, and vow to maintain the chase until it’s mathematically over. But if the defending league champions are to have any chance of catching Miami in the race for both the Supporters’ Shield and a top seed in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, they need to beat the Floridians when they visit Lower.com Field Wednesday night (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
“They are first and we want to run after them. Even if we have a small chance, we're going to take it,” Crew defender Rudy Camacho told reporters on Monday. “We never know. They can lose points and we can take three points against them. So it's very important; we have one less game also that we can eventually win. So there is a chance and we're going to try everything to get it.”
Regular-season fixtures don’t get much tastier than this: a clash between first and second in the Eastern Conference, 2023 MLS Cup champs vs. the league leaders for most of ‘24, two talented, expansive sides who also happen to be the last two Leagues Cup winners – Columbus having beaten IMCF on their path to this year’s trophy, storming back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in the Ohio capital on Aug. 13.
“A big game, right?” said Miami assistant coach Javier Morales on Tuesday morning, deputizing on media duties for Gerardo 'Tata' Martino. “We have been waiting for this opportunity and now to have a chance to play them over there, and we know that if we win the game, we're going to win the Supporters' Shield. So we are very excited about the game.”
Postseason preview?
This might also prove a preview of an explosive postseason faceoff as well, and the Rosanegra securing a major piece of hardware on Columbus’ turf would lay down a powerful marker.
“I think the level of the game is going to be a kind of playoff game,” predicted Columbus attacker Diego Rossi.
Those are the stakes. Then there are the headliners: The brilliance of Messi and the galvanizing effect he’s had on his entire club on and off the pitch, pitted against the collective excellence of Wilfried Nancy’s slick-passing Crew, themselves spearheaded by one of the league’s very best, Colombian striker Cucho Hernández.
Notably, both sides readily acknowledge the other’s quality. Martino called Columbus “the best team in the league, by far” earlier this season, while Nancy and his squad – “It's always nice to play against players like this, that's why we play football,” said Camacho – say they’re eager to test themselves against Messi, who missed both of this year’s previous meetings.
“Listen, Messi is Messi,” said Nancy. “I have obviously a massive respect for him because he's been part of my example when I try to teach certain things with my players. Because he's a player that yes, obviously he won many, many things. But also what I like about him is he plays with common sense. So when there is a pass to make, he is going to pass the ball. When he sees the moment to dribble, he's going to do it. And for me, this is rare to see that.
“My players, yeah, they know that Miami is coming with Messi, and we know that this is a good game for both teams … this is [also] good for the league.”
Miami on the brink
Miami can officially clinch the Shield with a win, while a draw would all but hand them the regular-season title considering the points gap they’ve already opened up. Sharing the points, however, would constitute IMCF’s fourth consecutive tie, and likely amplify the buzz of concern regarding their current form – a telling sign of how dramatically the paradigm has shifted over the past year.
“Yes, we are frustrated with three ties in a row, and it’s a shame we couldn’t take advantage of Columbus’ draw in Washington [vs. D.C. United]. But it’s not like we did not have chances to win,” Martino said in Spanish after Saturday’s home draw with Charlotte FC.
“We were a team that habitually lost for years, and now, we are a team that habitually wins, and that raises expectations,” he added. “It should be noted that we have worked very hard to change the perception of this team, and we’ve done it having to use many different lineups due to injuries and national team duty.”
In fact, the Herons have actually picked up points at a slightly higher rate without Messi than with him (2.13 ppg vs. 2.06 ppg). Even with the Argentine legend posting three goals and two assists in his first four MLS games since returning from an ankle issue, the rust he’s shown has led some observers to wonder if Martino & Co. should adjust their deployment of the GOAT.
It’s more like the other way around, said Sergio Busquets in Spanish on Tuesday.
“With Leo and Luis [Suárez] there is a change of system,” noted the veteran defensive midfielder, lately pressed into service as a center back due to Miami’s injury woes. “And that has to be adapted to the team. But I think that we already did it at the beginning of the season before [Messi] was injured and he was in the Copa América, and well, for us it is an advantage to have him. So those adaptations are naturally how we have been doing since the beginning of the season, and I think that we should even find him more.
“We do know the superiority that he generates in us, what he is capable of doing, and from there, then try to find him more so that he can do the most lethal thing possible and have the greatest impact on our games.”
