Lionel Messi returning to Philly for the soaring Union’s matchup against Inter Miami

Lionel Messi is set to play his second-ever battle in Philadelphia and much of the dazzle of the world s best footballer and his star-studded Inter Miami association coming to town seems to have faded Inter are underperforming with only two wins in their last eight games putting them in sixth in the Eastern Conference standings The Union on the other hand are soaring at the top of the league and fresh off a peaceful U S Open Cup win against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Tai Baribo leads the league in goals and Quinn Sullivan who just received his first call-up to the United States Men s National Crew s -player training camp is tied for second for assists younger brother Cavan has been called up to under- gang s training camp The stats show things are at this time humming along for Philadelphia Stats from the top of the table pic twitter com zi rlxiUuc Philadelphia Union PhilaUnion May Saturday s challenge might be a sell-out and there may be a noticeable number of Messi jerseys of all variations in the crowd like there was two years ago but head coach Bradley Carnell announced the association isn t treating this differently from any other opponent We re not over-inflating this encounter Carnell stated It s another opponent They wear a different color set of jerseys and it s v on the field and I think that s the mentality going into it That isn t to say that the Union will underestimate their opponent The organization s visit to Miami in March ended in a - loss Carnell noted that after a rocky first minutes everything went right for the Union except the number in the last meeting with Miami He added that the return of fullback Kai Wagner who was absent with injury in March offers a stronger side than last time According to the Miami Herald Inter coach Javier Mascherano has been using the full week since the squad s - derby loss to Orlando City to run intense and longer training and try regaining confidence after the company s veterans held a players meeting after the defeat We know what type of a crew it is and in every battle they ve had chances they ve been competitive and it hasn t gone their way Carnell noted Teams go through phases throughout the season but you can never underestimate that association especially I don t think we re anywhere near any form of complacency or any form of laziness or tiredness I think there s a company on our side here that we re just hungry for the next challenge We re hungry for the next points to be put on the board The encounter kicks off at p m and tickets starting from around last we checked are still available Those with MLS Season Pass on Apple TV can stream the meeting The post Lionel Messi returning to Philly for the soaring Union s matchup against Inter Miami appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY