FC Cincinnati continues playoff push on the road against Messi, Miami

FC Cincinnati found some answers on defense last week while sweeping a home-and-home doubleheader against D.C. United and posting their first shutout in six months.Continuing that momentum will be difficult when the Orange and Blue face Major League Soccer’s best offense and the world’s best offensive player. FC Cincinnati plays at Inter Miami CF and Lionel Messi 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28.Cincy has three games left. Cincinnati, currently eighth in the Eastern Conference with 42 points (11-11-9) will clinch a playoff spot Wednesday with a win over Miami and a Columbus loss at Dallas. A win still gives them a great chance of qualifying for the playoffs later. A loss or draw could muddy the waters.Cincinnati had done well against Messi in the past, but the last two games have been rough for them, a 4-0 loss in the 2025 playoffs, and a 5-3 loss in May. In the last game, Messi scored twice and had a third goal ruled later as an own-goal. German Berterame and Mateo Silvetti scored late in the game.“He's as good as we've seen,” said FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan. “He's still playing at such a high level. Everybody has their game plans and their ideas, but you just hope to be strong on the night and limit really good players’ impact on the game. Everybody talks about their plan and thinks they have solutions going into it. But that's typically thrown out the window once the game starts, and you have guys that play at that level and can change the game with creativity, with vision, desire, so many different things. But what we'll try to do is have a good overall team performance.”Who is FC Cincinnati's opponent, Inter Miami CF?Cincinnati is 1-3-2 all-time in Miami. Miami is tied for second with New England in the Eastern Conference with 55 points (15-6-10).Messi and Miami continue to outpace the rest of the league in offense. They have 73 goals, nine more than Cincinnati, seven more than Supporters’ Shield winner Nashville, and at least 10 more than anyone in the Western Conference.Coming off its first MLS shutout in six months, Cincinnati faces a team that just took its first clean sheet on offense in an even longer span.Miami lost 2-0 at Red Bull New York Oct. 24, which was their last shutout in seven months, and only their second in MLS play. They also had a scoreless draw against Nashville in the Concacaf Champions Cup in March.Messi did not start a match for the first time since early August, not because of injury but because he had traveled to Spain to accept a prestigious humanitarian award. He came off the bench early in the second half and played 34 minutes. The reigning league MVP is the runaway Golden Boot leader with 25 goals plus 15 assists, and has at least one goal in five of his last six starts.Messi missed some time with the club in early August after leading Argentina to the World Cup final and dealing with the death of his father, but he has played 90 minutes in every other game since.Messi and Evander are the top two in the league in goal contributions. Evander is second with 29 (14 goals, 15 assists), two ahead of four other players. They are the only two players in MLS history with three straight seasons of 15 or more assists, both reaching that mark earlier this month.Messi’s longtime Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez is still beating defenses at age 39 with 15 goals and 10 assists. He has more than 500 career goals in his professional career. Argentine star Rodrigo De Paul has five goals and 14 assists. German Berterame, in his first season with Miami, has nine goals and eight assists.Noonan will be looking for a confident defensive approach from his team.“We can have a solution, we can have ideas of how you limit the best players to impact the game, but they're able to do it because they have better ideas and a better plan and a better game understanding than pretty much every opponent that they're matched up with,” Noonan said. “So it’s how can you respect your opponent but not be overwhelmed by it? I don't want to oversimplify it, but if you're overwhelmed by it, you don't stand a chance.”Miami has had an occasionally leaky defense that ranks middle of the pack in MLS with 53 goals conceded. They shut out D.C. United and New York City earlier in October.This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FC Cincinnati continues playoff push on the road against Messi, Miami