Lionel Messi starting in Inter Miami-Revolution at Gillette Stadium

One of the greatest soccer players in history will indeed feature in front of more than 60,000 at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night, brushing aside concerns about playing on turf.

Lionel Messi, the Argentine superstar forward of Inter Miami, was officially included in the Starting XI for the April 27 matchup against the Revolution when lineups were announced prior to kickoff.

The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m., and will be streamed on Apple TV MLS Season Pass.

Messi has gone against the trend of world superstars avoiding playing on turf. Where the likes of David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Thierry Henry regularly skipped playing on turf during their time in MLS, Messi has seemed to have less of an issue.

In his first press conference after signing with Miami in 2023, Messi told reporters that as he played on turf in his youth, he didn’t have a problem reacclimating to it in front of U.S. crowds.

“The truth is my youth was spent on artificial turf, my whole life was on that pitch,” he told reporters, per The Athletic. “Truth is it’s been a while since I’ve played on artificial turf, but I have no problem adapting myself again.”

True to his word, Messi played on turf against Charlotte FC in the MLS regular season finale last October.

Signs pointed to his inclusion in the Starting XI prior to the game against New England as well. With a clear schedule in the short term — Inter Miami lost in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup — and the looming distraction of Copa América this summer, Miami head coach Tata Martino disclosed earlier this week that he viewed the next month as a crucial period for his team to pile up as many points as possible.