Houston, Texas- Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will try to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg when they play Monterrey on Wednesday night for a spot in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals.
Messi missed last week's first leg of the home-and-home, total-goals series. The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner returned from a hamstring injury that had sidelined him since a March 13 Champions Cup match against Nashville to play the second half of last Saturday's Major League Soccer game at Colorado, scoring once in a 2-2 draw.
The match sold out in just a few hours and asking prices for resale tickets ranged from $450-$1,900.
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Messi did not speak to media. He has held only two media availabilities with Inter Miami since signing with the team last July 15: on Aug. 17 in Florida and on Feb. 6 in Tokyo during a preseason tour.
Hundreds of Mexican fans began gathering early Tuesday morning outside Miami's team hotel in San Pedro Garza, a high-end neighborhood in Monterrey.
Miami took a lead last week on Tomás Avilés' 19th-minute goal, but Monterrey went ahead when Maximiliano Meza scored in the 69th and Jorge Rodríguez in the 89th.
Because CONCACAF uses away goals as a tiebreaker, a 1-0 Miami win wouldn't be sufficient.
Monterrey coach Fernando Ortiz said his team is aware of what Messi can do.
Monterrey is a five-time CONCACAF champion, winning last in 2021.
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