Inter Miami look to strengthen their position atop the Eastern Conference table as they host playoff hopefuls D.C. United at Chase Stadium on Saturday.
Following a scoreless draw in the midweek rivalry bout with Orlando City on Wednesday, in which Lionel Messi was rested, they now return home to continue the Supporters’ Shield push, sitting atop the Eastern Conference.
Messi is also having a standout season, sitting second in the MLS goal scoring table with 10
, one behind the leaders, and leads the league with 12 assists, four more than anyone else.
D.C. United, meanwhile, sit eighth in the East, looking to make the playoffs for the first time in five years. They finished bottom of the league in 2022, and didn’t do much better last season, but have enjoyed a quality start thanks in part to the goal scoring prowess of former Premier League standout Christian Benteke.
The Sporting News is following the Orlando City vs. Inter Miami match live, providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.
Inter Miami vs. DC United live score
ScoreGoal scorersInter Miami––D.C. United––
ALERT: Kickoff of this match has been delayed by weather. The new scheduled start time is 8:05 p.m. ET.
Kickoff: 8:05 p.m. ET / 5:05 p.m. PT (delayed due to weather)
Location: Chase Stadium (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
Referee: Guido Gonzalez
Starting lineups:
Inter Miami (4-3-3, right to left): 1. Callender (GK) — 57. Weigandt, 6. Aviles, 21. Freire, 18. Alba — 24. Gressel, 5. Busquets, 30. Cremaschi — 10. Messi, 9. Suarez, 7. Rojas.
D.C. United (3-5-2, right to left): 24. Bono (GK) — 97. McVey, 3. Bartlett, 15. Birnbaum — 22. Herrera, 8. Stroud, 25. Hopkins, 43. Klich, 7. Santos — 21. Ku-Dipietro, 20. Benteke.
Inter Miami vs. DC United live updates, highlights, commentary
30 mins to delayed kickoff: The teams have finally taken the pitch for warmups! A bit later than expected, but this match is nearing the opening whistle.
Lionel Messi out on the pitch for Inter Miami vs. D.C. United! pic.twitter.com/WauMoQQiEh
— Mundo Albiceleste ⭐🌟⭐🇦🇷 (@MundoAlbicelest) May 18, 2024
UPDATE (7:20 p.m. ET): The adverse weather has subsided, and Inter Miami have announced a new start time of 8:05 p.m. ET, which will be a delay of just 35 minutes. All things considered, not too bad! Teams should be starting warmups shortly.
Soaking up the Florida sunshine ☀️ pic.twitter.com/B5zf9a1dlr
— D.C. United (@dcunited) May 18, 2024
30 mins to kickoff: We are still under a weather delay, confirmed by Inter Miami yet again, but the starting lineups have still been released on schedule. Lionel Messi starts, as expected, and Jordi Alba returns to the lineup, replacing his backup Franco Negri.
For D.C. United, there’s two changes from the midweek defeat as Pedro Santos comes in at left wing-back to replace Cristian Dajome, and Steve Birnbaum enters the back line with Matti Peltola dropping out.
1 hour to kickoff: Unfortunately, with an hour before scheduled kickoff time, the match has entered a weather delay as thunderstorms circle around south Florida. It’s unclear when things will clear up, as stormy weather in the state can appear and disappear and reappear again on a moment’s notice, making forecasting precipitation difficult by merely looking at the radar.
There has been an extremely high amount of rain on the east coast of the United States the past few weeks, and there’s a front pushing through at the moment which has brought thunderstorms to the entire coast of Florida and North Carolina as well.
South Florida vibes …#mls #messi pic.twitter.com/nI1t8UZ1DI
— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) May 18, 2024
1 hour 15 mins to kick: Christian Benteke was unable to add to his goals tally midweek in the heavy defeat to the New York Red Bulls, but his 11 still leave him tied for the league lead and one above Lionel Messi. He is the main scoring threat on this DC United side, but his goals have often been the product of solid team play. We’ll see if the visitors tonight can work possessional build-ups like this against Inter Miami’s tireless press.
— D.C. United (@dcunited) May 14, 2024
1 hour 30 mins to kick: After missing the midweek rivalry game at Orlando City, in which Inter Miami did not score, would appear that Lionel Messi is set to go for today’s game.
Inter Miami have included Messi in their pre-match promotional content on social media, which is usually a good indicator that he will suit up and take the field tonight.
Tonight 🏠🐐 pic.twitter.com/XPtETyztdt
— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) May 18, 2024
1 hour 45 mins to kick: The annual salary release day was this past week, and we learned that Lionel Messi is making a guaranteed annual salary worth an astonishing $20.5 million, which already makes him the fourth-highest career earner in MLS history, behind only USMNT veterans Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore, and Toronto FC star Lorenzo Insigne. David Beckham is fifth on that list, despite having last played for the LA Galaxy 12 years ago.
While this was not released by the league, the Miami Herald reports that Messi’s total package is $150 million, and includes equity in the club, something which has been consistently reported since he joined the league.
In all, Inter Miami tops the league’s team payroll list by a wide margin, with their $41.6 million payroll over $10 million higher than any other club.
🚨⚽️🐐 Messi tops MLS salary list ($20.5 million). Here is full Inter Miami salary list, top to bottom.. https://t.co/h6dQHQ4JDS@MiamiHerald @HeraldSports #Messi #InterMiamiCF #MLS pic.twitter.com/wBnFqH35Yb
— Michelle Kaufman (@kaufsports) May 16, 2024
2 hours to kickoff: David Beckham went on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show last weekend to discuss a number of topics, including Lionel Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami. He said “always had the plan” to bring Messi to South Florida since he gained ownership of the club, and discussed how the league has grown from when he came to play for the LA Galaxy and when Messi arrived at Inter Miami.
David Beckham and Jimmy Kimmel talking about Messi’s impact in America since moving to Miami [@JimmyKimmelLive] pic.twitter.com/cvNUbREywQ
— R (@Lionel30i) May 9, 2024
Inter Miami vs. DC United pre-match facts, figures
Inter Miami have lost just one MLS game with Lionel Messi in the starting lineup, a competitively meaningless match at Charlotte FC to close out the 2023 regular season.The 17 points collected by D.C. United after their first 12 matches represents the club’s best start to a season since 2019, the last time they made the playoffs. They had 15 points at this stage last season, and 14 points in 2022 when they finished bottom of the Eastern Conference. 11 goals from Christian Benteke through 13 games put him on pace to finish with 28 goals in 2024, which would be the most scored by a D.C. United in MLS play in club history by a significant margin. Raul Diaz Arce scored 23 in 1996, the inaugural MLS season, a mark which no D.C. United player has beaten.
Orlando City vs. Inter Miami lineups, team news
With a two-game week to navigate, it wasn’t terribly surprising to see Tata Martino rest Lionel Messi on Wednesday, even in an in-state rivalry match. However, it does put his participation in this match in question as well, should he have a more tangible injury which has not been disclosed by the club.
At this point, it’s believed that Messi was simply rested against Orlando City, which would mean he should return to the field here. In fact, it would appear the club has hinted as much in a recent social media post from gameday.
Diego Gomez could be nearing a return in the coming weeks from an ankle injury, but is out here, while Federico Redondo is also out but could be on his way back soon. Facundo Farias is out for the season with an ACL tear, while Ian Fray will be brought back slowly from his. Jordi Alba returns to the lineup from his multi-week injury.
Inter Miami starting lineup (4-3-3): Callender (GK) — Weigandt, Aviles, Freire, Alba — Gressel, Busquets, Cremaschi — Messi, Suarez, Rojas.
Inter Miami subs (9): Dos Santos (GK), Kryvtsov, Allen, Negri, D. Ruiz, Bright, Taylor, Afonso, Campana.
Unlike Inter Miami with Lionel Messi, D.C. United has deployed 33-year-old striker Christian Benteke at every chance possible as he challenges for the league’s Golden Boot award. After missing two games early in the season due to a slight injury, Benteke has played 897 out of a possible 900 minutes in league play over the last 10 matches.
Head coach Troy Lesesne has enjoyed a near fully fit squad to begin 2024. Former Inter Miami center-back Christopher McVey has found a new home at D.C. United and gets the start at the back, looking to keep his former teammate Messi out of net.
D.C. United starting lineup (3-5-2): 24. Bono (GK) — 97. McVey, 3. Bartlett, 15. Birnbaum — 22. Herrera, 8. Stroud, 25. Hopkins, 43. Klich, 7. Santos — 21. Ku-Dipietro, 20. Benteke.
D.C. United subs (8): Miller (GK), Tubbs, Peltola, Dajome, Pirani, M. Rodriguez, Fletcher, Murrell.
How to watch Inter Miami vs. DC United
Date: Saturday, May 18, 2024Time: 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PTTV Channel: — None —Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
This weekend MLS match will be available to watch live on MLS Season Pass from Apple TV, with a subscription required to view the match.
The price of a season-long subscription of MLS Season Pass has been reduced to $69, a 30 percent discount on the original price of $99 to reflect the portion of the season now played. For those already subscribed to Apple TV+, the price is now $59 for the season, a 25 percent discount from the original $79 price.
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