Fury over the arrival of Leo Messi to Monterrey

Lionel Messi got off the plane, walked a few meters next to his bodyguard, martial arts specialist Yassine Cheuko, and applause emerged. The Argentine star, captain and symbol of Inter Miami, landed yesterday in Monterrey, Nuevo León, along with the entire entourage of the American club to face Rayados in the second leg of the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions League.

In the midst of a strong security device, Messi greeted everyone. He dragged his suitcase with a thermos for hot water under his arm and waved his right hand toward where a wave of journalists and fans at the airport were waiting to videotape him or take his photo. ¡Messi, Messi!they shouted at him from hallways filled with T-shirts from Barcelona, ​​Paris-Saint Germain and the Argentine national team, the three entities where the world champion built his career before playing in the MLS.

To get to the concentration hotel, the captain and his companions traveled the highway for 40 minutes in a bus that was surrounded by four police vans and escort cars. Among a small crowd gathered in the streets of the municipality of San Pedro, a hand-painted sign with blue and red markers caught their attention: Sin auditas, Messi. It was a child who carried him.

“I am Team Ronaldo. They helped him at the World Cup and I’m afraid they’ll do it now too,” he said dressed in Rayados clothing. Messi did not play in the first leg in Florida, because he was recovering from an injury. Even so, he was left in the middle of an altercation in the locker room, where elements of both teams, as well as managers and members of the staffthey exchanged verbal attacks.

The technical director of Rayados, Fernando Tano Ortiz, and his assistant Nicolás Sánchez, both Argentines, accused the Inter number 10 of an aggressive and provocative attitude. A situation that left the tie red hot and the investigation of the events in the hands of Concacaf.

We are Monterrey, we are at home and with our people. May Messi worry about ushe remarked at a press conference Tano Ortiz, convinced of advancing to the next round by having a 2-1 advantage on aggregate. We are not going to change, I am not of the idea of ​​​​conserving a result. We are going to propose where we have to play, not wait for anything. As happened in the first leg, we will go out based on the result.

Although in the American team Messi’s recovery is classified information, former national coach Gerardo Martino gave signs that the 36-year-old player will be present at the BBVA stadium after participating for a few minutes on Saturday in the duel against the Colorado Rapids in the MLS. .

Leo has faced the best coaches in the world and none of them found the solution to mark him. It is indecipherable what he does with the ball. When defenders believe that he is not going to dribble, he succeeds, but we want to earn respect above all. Let’s try to play our gameadds Ortiz without giving too much importance to the defeat of Rayados in the League (2-1 against Cruz Azul), the second in a row, after using substitute elements.

On social networks, the Monterrey board warned that it will apply special security measures for tonight’s meeting in the north of the country. Any person who enters the field of play illegally will be arrested and expelled from all Liga Mx stadiums.. All from the different invasions on the fields that the Argentine steps on, a phenomenon that has become customary around the world.