Messi reunited with Suárez, but they played just 45 minutes and Inter Miami drew against El Salvador

Like old times. Lionel Messi with whom he played again Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba AND Sergio Busquetswhich hadn’t happened for more than three years, when all four did it Barcelona for the last time. The experience was ephemeral: it didn’t last long and, apart from a few flashes, it didn’t live up to expectations. It ended 0-0 against El Salvador at the Cuscatlán Stadium.

Last time was worse. August 14, 2020, a date that will be remembered forever for the defeat suffered by the Catalan team when, in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Bayern Munich beat them 8-2.

The River Plate duo that worked so well in Barcelona didn’t look like they did back then. First of all because Messi was not a striker. Rather, he was associated with the attack or the situations generated, but starting from the center of the pitch. Even sometimes behind Sergio Busquets.

From that position he hit a barbaric ball Jordi Alba, generating the best of the first part. He also made two actions inside the area: the first was greeted with a superb response from the goalkeeper Mario González and in the second half he was left without the ball because Benjamin Cremaschi didn’t make the block that the man from Rosario was expecting.

Cuscatlán brought together the most talked about quartet of Barcelona but the reunion with the Inter Miami shirt in the middle of the tour had only one suitable move, which González ruined with his intervention. The Salvadoran goalkeeper was the highlight. And Suarez? He scored with some situations, but he couldn’t even shout his own.

The second half began without the quartet on the pitch. Tata Martino removed them and lowered the shutters on the meeting who will have more opportunities to get oiled before the start of the MLS championship.

Without the quartet on the field, the match fell into situations and interest. The most salient thing, perhaps, was the moment when Gregore and Darwin Cerén crossed paths in the middle of the pitch and almost ended up colliding. The referee warned both of them and things immediately calmed down.

But when there were still 20 minutes left in the match, Martino got the worst news: Facundo Farías left the field with severe pain in his left knee. Inter played the final minutes with ten men because Tata no longer had the possibility to make substitutions. The former Colón withdrew with clear signs of pain that suggest a possible injury.

Martino will wait for the medical report to find out the player’s situation and find out if he can count on him in the next friendly matches. They will face FC Dallas in the United States on Monday and a week later the team will travel to Saudi Arabia to face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Hilal and Al Nassr.

The tour will continue in China against the Hong Kong All-Stars, a team made up of the stars of the local championship, and will continue to Japan to face Vissel Kobe, in Tokyo. The last game will be February 15, against Newell’s at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, their new stadium.