Messi speaks after latest loss, says reeling Inter Miami must stick together

Lionel Messi isn't happy right now.

After Inter Miami was routed 3-0 by Orlando on Sunday night and fell to 1-5-1 in its last seven matches across all competitions, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner and 2022 World Cup champion — who rarely gives interviews after matches — told Apple TV that it's imperative for the team to stick together.

“It’s a difficult time, but we’re going to come through this,” Messi said in Spanish. “Now we’ll really see if we’re a team. These are difficult times. When everything is going well it’s very easy, but when difficult times come — like now — we have to be more united than ever, be a real team, and get through it.”

Inter Miami fell to 6-3-4 in Major League Soccer this season, sixth in the Eastern Conference. Messi's team set an MLS record for best regular-season mark a year ago, going 22-4-8 — finishing with the most points and top winning percentage in league history. The four regular-season losses tied a league mark for the fewest in a season.

But this season looks nothing like the way last season went.

“We’re coming off a period of bad results,” Messi said. “But we have to keep working and think about what’s next. With three or four games left in May, we (have to) finish the best possible way to be able to face the Club World Cup.”

That tournament starts June 14. It's the next big event on Inter Miami's calendar — but there may be some other news in the interim, with coach Javier Mascherano, in a separate Apple TV interview before the match, hinting that the team and Messi may be together longer than first thought.

Messi — who came to the club on a 2 1/2-year deal — is only under contract through the end of this MLS season, though the team has made clear it wants him around through at least 2026, when it plans to move into its long-awaited new stadium near Miami International Airport.

The team signed one of Messi's longtime Barcelona and Miami teammates, Jordi Alba, through 2027 last week in what seemed like a sign that keeping Messi may be possible.

"Hopefully in a few weeks we can have some news about Leo,” Mascherano said. “I think it will be very, very important for the club, the fans, and for MLS.”

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AP MLS: https://apnews.com/hub/major-league-soccer