What you should know

While Inter Miami’s visit to Subaru Park ended in a lopsided 4-1 scoreline, the game could have — and according to the numbers, should have — been much closer.

Why? Well according to the expected goals model (xG), which evaluates each scoring chance throughout a game, the Union actually should have won.

The Union totaled 2.37 expected goals compared to just 0.73 expected goals for Miami.

In other words, the Union missed several high-grade scoring chances, including one each from Chris Donovan and Jakob Glesnes, and two from Dániel Gazdag. On the other hand, Inter Miami scored goals with an xG of 0.04, 0.01, 0.23, and 0.41. Messi’s 30-yard strike had an expected goal probability of just 0.01.

— Gustav Elvin

Nearly 20,000 fútbol fans can say they were there the night Lionel Messi made his mark in Philadelphia. It’s why most of them came for the 7 p.m. match. By 7:30, they had what they came for.

The greatest player the game has ever seen in June agreed to spend his soccer dotage in America’s minor league, but he’d prove to still be a major talent even at the age of 36. He led Inter Miami into Subaru Park on Tuesday night, his sixth game since leaving Europe’s elite soccer sphere, with eight goals in his first five games, all played in the Leagues Cup, a tournament between MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX, which brought him to Delco. As such, he’d already set the all-time tournament goal record.

Twenty minutes into the game, he had goal No. 9. It earned him Man of the Match honors. It was the winner, and it sent Inter Miami to the tournament final, and it bounced the Union, and it was beautiful, and it was ugly.

Messi unleashed a modest blast from 35 yards that never made it more than 6 inches off the ground. It wrong-footed astonished goalie Andre Blake, who, somehow, wasn’t able to cover the space between himself and the lower left corner.

Most of the 18,000 fell silent. Hundreds of pink-clad Inter Miami fans, many of whom spent thousands to be near the Messi-ah, rejoiced.

The Union and their fans were stunned.

But then, all night, the Union was awestruck. By halftime, they’d been thunderstruck.

» READ MORE: Lionel Messi’s first visit to Philadelphia delivers thrills in a dominant win over the Union

— Marcus Hayes

The Union became the latest victim in Lionel Messi’s MLS reign of terror, losing 4-1 to Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup semifinals.

A rocking River End section at Subaru Park wasn’t enough to ruffle Messi, who continued his streak of scoring in every game he has played so far with Miami. His 20th-minute goal brought his tally to nine goals in six games.

Union goalkeeper Andre Blake had a shaky performance, letting Miami’s first three shots on target go past him in the first half.

Union captain Alejandro Bedoya, making his first appearance since July 15, got the Union on the board in the 73rd minute, scoring after a Kai Wagner corner kick. However, it was too little, too late to compete with Miami’s offense, which made the Union pay for every mistake they made in their defensive end.

» READ MORE: Lionel Messi, Inter Miami trounce Union, 4-1, in Leagues Cup semifinals

— Lochlahn March

The Union’s defense is cut open once again, as DeAndre Yedlin slides a ball in for David Ruiz. The 19-year-old homegrown player scores around Andre Blake for his second senior goal. That should do it folks. Not good enough from the Union in any facet tonight.

— Gustav Elvin

It’s not over just yet as the Union pull one back to cut Inter Miami’s lead to 3-1. Captain Alejandro Bedoya gets the goal in his return to action from a quad injury, which had kept him out since July 15.

The former U.S. international pounces on a loose ball in the box following a corner kick and deftly hooks one into the top of the net with the outside of his boot. The Union look to have a bit of pep in their step suddenly. Can they get a second and really put the pressure on Inter Miami? If only Chris Donovan and Jakob Glesnes hadn’t squandered golden chances earlier this half ...

— Gustav Elvin

Kyle “The Baby” Wood had a blank stare in the River End at the half.

It wasn’t because he was standing feet from Lionel Messi as he walked off the field at Subaru Park at the half. It was this Sons of Ben supporter was witnessing his beloved Union down bad to Messi’s Inter Miami, 3-0, after 45 minutes.

In a game that brought an immense amount of hoopla due to one of the world’s greatest putting on a show along the Chester waterfront, it was the Union “The Baby” had the most concerns about.

”Look Messi is a legend, I get it,” Wood said. “But to watch my team beat his team would have made this so much better. It’s not over, but wow, I didn’t expect all this.”

— Kerith Gabriel

Jim Curtin’s attempt to win the first half by controlling it blew up in his face.

Josef Martínez’s goal three minutes in against the Union’s defensive-minded 3-6-1 formation left Curtin in a hole that left his team incapable of digging out of. And when Lionel Messi made it 2-0 in the 20th, then Jordi Alba made it 3-0 right before halftime, the Union’s fate seemed already sealed.

The Union took seven shots in the first half, with two on target. Miami took three shots, and they all went in the net.

Subbing in Mikael Uhre and Jack McGlynn to start the second half might help cut the deficit some, but it’s too late. And while Curtin clearly wanted to bench Uhre for a poor outing in the quarterfinal win over Mexico’s Querétaro, it was a big gamble, and Curtin lost it.

— Jonathan Tannenwald

Already down 2-0, the Union switch off and former Barca star Jordi Alba makes them pay with a well-taken finish. A completely unacceptable goal to concede by the Union backline, which completely lost track of Alba. A beautiful pass by Inter Miami’s Robert Taylor to play in Alba for 3-0 but what were Jakob Glesnes and Nathan Harriel doing on this play?

That one feels like a gut punch, as the Union and their home crow look completely deflated. Inter Miami have three goals on three shots.

— Gustav Elvin

Things have gone from bad to worse for the Union, as Inter Miami is now ahead, 2-0, after 20 minutes. This time it is the man of the hour, Lionel Messi, who beats Andre Blake.

While it was an impressive low long-range strike from Messi, Blake won’t be happy with that one given the distance (almost 30 yards) and his high standards. The Union’s game plan has gone completely out the window in less than a half an hour.

— Gustav Elvin

Well, that didn’t take long ... Inter Miami take a 1-0 lead less than three minutes in. Josef Martínez, not Lionel Messi, is the goal scorer, breaking free down the right flank and firing in a low shot past by Andre Blake and just inside the far post.

How will the Union respond to that early haymaker from the the Herons?

— Gustav Elvin

Here’s how the Union will line up against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami. The big news is quarterfinal hero Chris Donovan starts in place of the injured Julián Carranza, who is available off the bench. All-action midfielder José Andrés Martínez is another player to watch, as he figures to be chasing Messi around Subaru Park.

No big surprises for Miami, as Messi starts, as do fellow former Barcelona starts Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. Josef Martínez is another danger man, as the former Atlanta United striker has looked rejuvenated since Messi’s arrival.

— Gustav Elvin

How much of a difference has Lionel Messi’s arrival made for Inter Miami? Here a few numbers behind the Argentine’s hot start with the Herons:

— Gustav Elvin

Inter Miami has won just five of 22 league matches this season. Since Lionel Messi debuted in the Leagues Cup on July 21, Miami has not lost a game (all in the Leagues Cup). He’s scored eight goals — at least one in each of the five matches he has played — and also tacked on an assist.

“If Messi receives the ball, it’s too late,” said manager Jim Curtin. “We’re in trouble. We’ve messed up if he receives the ball at his feet. So can we now, in a smart way, try to cut out the weapons that get him the ball on the ground?”

The Union will have a chance Tuesday to be the first MLS team to get the better of Messi since he joined the league. They’ll be helped by the return to the lineup of Dániel Gazdag, who was held out of the Union’s match against Querétaro with a knee sprain. Curtin said that midfielder Alejandro Bedoya will also be available. Bedoya has not appeared in a game since July 15.

Julián Carranza, who exited the quarterfinal with a hamstring injury, is unlikely to start, but still wants to participate. Carranza, alongside Joaquín Torres, is one of two Argentines on the Union.

“Obviously a fellow countryman on the other team that’s pretty good at soccer,” Curtin said. “But [Carranza] picked up a grade one sprain, which is a hamstring strain that, look, again, news-wise that’s probably the best news we could have got. Probably won’t be from the start, but if he’s around even to take a penalty kick, or run around for a little bit of time without the risk of further injury, we’ll see where that stands.”

— Lochlahn March

When Argentine superstar Lionel Messi signed with Miami, just about no one thought he’d visit Chester this year. The Herons were awful statistically and to the eye, and it seemed improbable that they’d reach the Leagues Cup semifinals.

Well, here they are, not just Messi but his fellow former Barcelona stars Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. And Miami as a whole seems transformed, with winger Robert Taylor finding new life under esteemed new manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino.

Veteran striker Josef Martínez and fine young striker Leo Campana are playing well, too. And it’s the opportunity of a lifetime for 18-year-old attacking midfield project Benjamin Cremaschi, an Inter academy product who was born in Miami to Argentine parents.

Now even more big-time youngsters are coming: 19-year-old Argentine centerback Tomás Avilés, 20-year-old Argentine attacking midfielder Facundo Farías, and 20-year-old Paraguayan central midfielder Diego Gómez.

Can the Union beat them? If any MLS team can right now, this might be the one. Miami hasn’t faced a defense like the Union’s high press yet, and four Union players have played against Messi before: José Andrés Martínez, Andre Blake, Damion Lowe, and Joaquín Torres. (It would be five had Alejandro Bedoya not infamously missed the U.S.-Argentina game at the 2016 Copa América Centenario because of yellow card accumulation.)

» READ MORE: Lionel Messi’s visit to Philly is a measuring stick for the Union beyond just the game

— Jonathan Tannenwald

In the wake of the James Harden drama involving the Sixers guard calling president of basketball operations Daryl Morey a “liar,” Joel Embiid put quite the scare into Philly fans on Tuesday when he removed “Philadelphia” from the location in his bio on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

By Tuesday afternoon, Embiid had updated the location to Yaounde, which is the capital of his native Cameroon. Also a noted soccer fan, the Sixers center was back online tweeting out messages to Philly fans about tonight’s Union match vs. Lionel Messi like nothing had happened.

It certainly seems like this is just the latest case of “Troel” being “Troel” — but given the state of turmoil surrounding one of the Sixers stars and their top executive, it’s definitely worth noting.

— Matt Mullin

The Union announced Saturday that seats for the match were officially sold out eight minutes after they became available to the general public.

“I just hope that stadium will explode, like it will be a full house,” Kai Wagner said. “Hopefully, it will be the loudest stadium that we’ve got so far. I just have a message for all the fans: ‘Come here, support us, get as loud as you can.’”

Tuesday will mark only the second time that Inter Miami has played on the road since Messi joined the team.The Herons’ only other away game was at FC Dallas, so this will also mark Messi’s first time playing in the northeast with Miami.

In Miami’s last road game, Dallas had a comfortable lead for most of the game and looked like it might become the first team to defeat Messi’s Miami. But a Messi free kick tied the game, 4-4, in the 85th minute, sending the match into penalties in which Miami prevailed.

“Hopefully we can play well and win some new fans, turn some Messi friends into some Union fans,” goalkeeper Andre Blake said. “They are coming to see goals, and hopefully they can see goals being scored against Miami, and not against the Union.”

The winner of Tuesday’s match will face the winner of the Monterrey-Nashville semifinal. If the Union can get past Messi, they will host the Leagues Cup final on Aug. 19 at Subaru Park.

“Once the whistle blows, our guys are going to give it their best,” manager Jim Curtin said. “And I know we won’t be scared, we’ll be brave, and in this building, I’ll just say, anything can happen. Subaru Park, we’ve been pretty damn good over the last 50 games. And we know it’ll be tough. But we look forward to the challenge.”

» READ MORE: Jim Curtin says Union ‘won’t be scared’ going up against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami

— Lochlahn March

A soccer god descends to Philly on Tuesday night, and for those for whom fútbol is an annoyance and Lionel Messi is just a name, consider this parallel.

Michael Jordan retired for a second time before the 1998-99 season, the same season when Dirk Nowitzki was a rookie after being drafted ninth overall. By the time Jordan unretired for a second time, with the Washington Wizards in 2001, Nowitzki was on his way to the Hall of Fame. Still, Dirk is grateful that, against all odds, he got the chance to play on the same court as the best player in history, even if Air Jordan wasn’t flying quite as high.

“He was a little up there in age [39], but it was still amazing,” Nowitzki told The Dan Patrick Show last year. “I mean, he guarded me a couple of possessions on the post, and I tried to post him up, and I was excited. I remember just shooting a brutal fadeaway. I don’t think I even made it, but I was just so hyped to play against MJ and be on the same court as my idol.”

Those same words might be said by any number of Union players 10 years from now as they reflect on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023, when they play Inter Miami in a Leagues Cup semifinal.

“I cannot believe he’s going to be on the same pitch as me,” said Joaquín Torres, a 26-year-old midfielder from Messi’s home country, Argentina. “It’s a dream come true for me, to share the field with him. I’ve admired him since I was a little kid. He motivated me. He gave me a lot of happiness.”

Center back Jakob Glesnes, the hulking Norwegian whom “The Flea” will pester Tuesday, circled the date weeks ago. Messi joined Inter Miami too late for the teams’ meeting in late June, but if things fell right during the Leagues Cup ...

“I’ve thought about this game for a month,” Glesnes said. “I knew if both of the teams were winning, that would mean Messi would be in Philly.”

» READ MORE: Lionel Messi’s visit to Philadelphia is like Michael Jordan coming to town

— Marcus Hayes

The day is here. Lionel Messi, the greatest soccer player of this generation, maybe of all generations, will play in Chester tonight for Inter Miami against the Union.

The occasion: a Leagues Cup semifinal, with a trip to Saturday’s final on the line.

Weeks ago, this matchup would have had little fanfare. The Union, one of the top teams in the MLS, would be huge favorites over Miami, which probably wouldn’t have made it this deep into the knockout stage of the Leagues Cup.

With Messi, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba now on Miami, a lot has changed for a team that’s at the bottom of the MLS’s Eastern Conference table.

The Union are slight underdogs at home.

Here’s a look at some betting odds for Tuesday night’s Union vs. Inter Miami match, including the outcome, whether Messi will score, and more.

» READ MORE: Lionel Messi, Inter Miami favored in Tuesday night Leagues Cup match vs. Union in Chester

— Jeff Neiburg

The Union cruised through group play with a pair of wins over Liga MX opposition. They defeated a nine-man Tijuana, 3-1, in their opener before thrashing Querétaro, 5-1. Things were much tighter in the round of 32, as the Union outlasted D.C. United, 5-4, on penalties after an 0-0 draw. Next came a date with the rival New York Red Bulls, with the Union winning again on penalty kicks following a 1-1 score after 90 minutes. There was more drama Friday night, as the Union needed Chris Donovan’s stoppage-time winner over Querétaro in the quarterfinals to secure the matchup with Messi and Inter Miami.

Inter Miami’s somewhat improbable run to the semis of the Leagues Cup has included its fair share of Lionel Messi heroics. In his club debut, Messi came off the bench to fire an inch-perfect free kick into the roof of the net for a 94th-minute winner against Cruz Azul in a 2-1 victory. He topped that four days later with two goals and an assist in a 4-0 demolition of Atlanta United before bagging two more in the round of 32 in a 3-1 win over Orlando City.

But the Messi magic looked to have run out in the round of 16, as FC Dallas led Inter Miami, 4-2, with just 10 minutes to play. That’s when the 36-year-old clicked into gear with two free kicks. The first produced a catastrophic own goal from FC Dallas’ Marco Farfan; the second was almost a mirror image of his debut strike, a masterful curling free kick into the top corner. Inter Miami went on to win, 5-3, on penalties with Messi of all people slotting home the first of five successful kicks for the Herons. Messi scored for the fifth-straight game Friday as Inter Miami cruised to a 4-0 victory on home soil over Charlotte FC.

» READ MORE: Lionel Messi, Inter Miami to play the Union at Subaru Park: Time, tickets, TV, and more

— Gustav Elvin

According to a Leagues Cup official, season-ticket holders who chose to opt in following the Union’s quarterfinal win over Querétaro found tickets starting for as low as $48.

“I gave my ticket [representative] my credit card and told them to run it,” Furlan, an original Sons of Ben member and a founding member of the group who implored MLS to consider Philadelphia as its 16th franchise in 2008. “We were on a collision course and I felt like this could happen. I wasn’t going to get stuck out of this game and I wasn’t going to get charged a premium just to get in.”

The premium has been charged to catch the traveling caravan that has been Messi Mania, where tickets to Leagues Cup matches, the only tournament Messi has played to date, have seen prices of no less than $200 and generally upwards of $300 just to bear witness.

Prices are dictated largely by what people are willing to pay, according to Leagues Cup spokesperson Felipe Martinez Amaral.

“The prices reflect the market demand for tickets similar to playoff pricing in all major sports events,” Amaral said. “This semifinal match has seen unprecedented demand from fans, and we have ensured that Philadelphia Union season-ticket holders who chose to opt in to the Leagues Cup matches at the beginning of Leagues Cup paid their regular-season ticket prices and that loyal Union fans were able to purchase tickets prior to the general public.”

As of Monday, two tickets to sit in a premium section were still hovering around $1,260 apiece in Section 107, the center of the park on the players’ side of the field. That would be enough to cover a full season-ticket cost for a seat in six sections of Subaru Park, according to the Union’s 2024 season-ticket pricing.

“I know it sounds crazy, but I can’t not be there,” said Brian Spencer, a contractor from Downingtown who purchased two seats in section 111 off StubHub on Sunday night for $980. “I’ve been a Messi fan since he was at Barcelona. For him to be less than an hour from my house? It’s a done deal for me. People might say I’m crazy, but seeing Messi play a team in my hometown, to me is worth every penny.”

» READ MORE: Want to see Lionel Messi play against the Union? It’s going to cost you.

— Kerith Gabriel

Unfortunately for most casual soccer fans, watching tonight’s matchup between the Union and Inter Miami is going to cost you. That’s because it’s only available on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+, which provides season-long access to all MLS and Leagues Cup games, and that costs extra on top of your AppleTV+ subscription.

Outside of that, which currently costs $14.99 per month of $39 for the remainder of the season with an already active Apple TV+ subscription, you’ll have to stick to YouTube highlights and social media updates.

— Matt Mullin