Mascherano: Messi has decided to renew his contract long ago. The official announcement is that he wants the team to focus on the competition

6686 Sports October 25th In the first round of the Major League 1/8 finals, Inter Miami defeated Nashville SC 3-3 at home. After the game, Inter Miami coach Mascherano attended the press conference.

Talk about the club’s previous official announcement of contract extension with Messi

The club and Messi decided to officially announce the contract extension before the start of the playoffs so that we can focus more on the competitive level, but the decision to renew the contract has actually been decided long ago. Even though it hasn't been officially announced yet, we're pretty sure it's a done deal.

Talk about saying before the game that Messi may miss the game

Sometimes there is too much noise surrounding Messi, and we are more inclined to defend him. Because at this stage of the season, we want to protect him and prevent him from taking any unnecessary risks, but not making his back discomfort worse. This is the key.

Talk about this game

At the beginning of the game, it was difficult for us to complete the high-position press in the frontcourt. But as time went on we made adjustments and the lads actually did really well afterwards. In fact, the first goal came from our quick attack after Allende forced the ball.

I am very happy to win the first game, but this is just the beginning. What we have to do now is to have a good rest and then start preparing for Saturday's game this week. It will be a tough battle because the opponent has excellent players who can cause us problems. We have to adjust our competitive state as much as possible to minimize the probability of mistakes.

Talk about the goalkeeper Nuovo who started the game

We have a dedicated goalkeeper coach. I will maintain close communication with him and attach great importance to his opinions. We think Novo's competitive form is good, but this does not mean that Ustari is not good. This is just one of many decisions I make, as is my job.