After Cincy setback, Lionel Messi's Inter Miami face surging Red Bulls

Field Level Media|published: Fri 18th July, 19:22 2025

Jul 16, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Inter Miami CF forward Lionel Messi (10) dribbles against FC Cincinnati in the second half at TQL Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Inter Miami need to regroup fast, and the host New York Red Bulls want to keep rolling as they square off on Saturday night in Harrison, N.J.

Inter Miami (11-4-5, 38 points) are coming off a lopsided 3-0 loss at Cincinnati on Wednesday, which snapped a five-game winning streak and six-game unbeaten stretch in league action.

Lionel Messi, who is expected to play against the Red Bulls (9-8-6, 33 points), saw the end of his MLS-record streak of five matches scoring multiple goals.

Inter Miami, who will play their ninth match in a span of 36 days on Saturday, also announced on Friday that starting goalkeeper Oscar Ustari will not play against the Red Bulls.

Ustari exited Wednesday's game in the 25th minute with what looked like an injury to his left side. Rocco Rios Novo replaced him and surrendered a pair of second-half goals.

It's unclear how long Ustari will be out, but coach Javier Mascherano hinted it could be at least a few days.

"I wouldn't be able to say how long he'll be out. The doctors can probably say better as the next few days play themselves out," Mascherano said. "Hopefully, it's not a long absence."

New York wrestled away three points from the New England Revolution on Wednesday with an impressive second-half comeback. The Red Bulls scored five goals between the 56th and 88th minutes to erase an early 2-0 deficit and prevail 5-3.

"I mean, five goals in the second half is crazy, something that doesn't happen for us often," said Daniel Edelman, who scored the first of those goals. "It was good to see that we wanted more. We wanted to get that third, fourth, fifth."

Emil Forsberg and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting followed Edelman's goal by scoring two apiece to fuel the comeback.

The Red Bulls, who lost 4-1 to Inter Miami in their first meeting in South Florida on May 3, are on a seven-game unbeaten streak at home stretching back to a loss to D.C. United on April 19. Cameron Harper (knee), Lewis Morgan (thigh) and Serge Ngoma (thigh) aren't likely to play against Miami, which figures to be without Ian Fray (adductor), Baltasar Rodriguez (hamstring) and goalkeeper Drake Callender (hernia).

The Red Bulls sit in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

--Field Level Media

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