After escaping the league’s 2024 season opener with all three points, Inter Miami hit the road for a cross-country trip on short rest as they visit the LA Galaxy on Sunday.
Lionel Messi was brilliant as always as the Herons topped Real Salt Lake 2-0 on Wednesday to kick off the campaign, but the performance was incredibly sloppy, and only RSL’s completely disasterclass of their own kept the scoreline from looking more concerning.
That will be unsustainable across the entirety of the season, and head coach Tata Martino will know he has work to do if Inter Miami are to live up to the club’s lofty expectations this season. This will be made even more arduous knowing he has the added task of keeping the club’s aging superstars fully fit, picking out places to find them rest in the clogged schedule.
The match is a homecoming of sorts for Inter Miami owner David Beckham, as the Herons will visit the Galaxy, his old club of five years, for the first time in club history.
FOLLOW LIVE: Minute-by-minute updates of Inter Miami vs LA Galaxy with highlights & commentary
The Galaxy are coming off a tumultuous offseason with significant change in the squad, especially up front. Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez has departed the club in the offseason, leaving behind a largely disappointing MLS career to return to his home country of Mexico with boyhood club Chivas. Douglas Costa was also cut loose in the offseason, heading back to Brazil and Serie A giants Fluminense, while Billy Sharp was offloaded to English club Hull City and Michael Barrios exited to join Colombian side CD America.
In their place arrived new designated player Joseph Paintsil from Belgian side Genk, while Gabriel Pec joined from Brazilian club Vasco de Gama and MLS veteran Diego Fagundez was acquired from Austin FC.
Inter Miami vs LA Galaxy live stream, TV channel
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What time is Inter Miami vs LA Galaxy kickoff?
This MLS match kicks off at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday, February 25 at 5:30 p.m. local time in Carson, California.
Here’s how that time translates across all of the time zones in North America:
| Date | Kickoff time | |
| Eastern Time | Sun, Feb. 25 | 9 p.m. |
| Central Time | Sun, Feb. 25 | 8 p.m. |
| Mountain Time | Sun, Feb. 25 | 7 p.m. |
| Pacific Time | Sun, Feb. 25 | 6 p.m. |
| Alaska ST | Sun, Feb. 25 | 5 p.m. |
| Hawaii ST | Sun, Feb. 25 | 4 p.m. |
Inter Miami vs LA Galaxy lineups, team news
Inter Miami will spend all season meticulously managing the workload of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. Messi has dealt with sporadic muscle issues in recent years, so in a road match with cross-country travel on very short rest, his availability this weekend was arguably in question even with no particular injury present.
Suarez, on the other hand, has managed a chronic knee issue over the past two years and limped off after 85 minutes on Wednesday, so he too could see rest here. Tata Martino dismissed questions about possibly resting Suarez against the Galaxy, but it feels reckless to overuse him so early. Still, they both make the starting lineup tonight.
Sergio Busquets played just five short of the full 90 minutes and appears recovered from his preseason ankle injury. New defensive signing Nicolas Freire saw some minutes late in preseason but missed the opener as he recovers from a pre-existing knee injury, and is only on the bench today. Benjamin Cremaschi is out for the first few months with a knee injury.
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Inter Miami starting lineup (4-3-3, right to left): 1. Callender (GK) — 2. Yedlin, 6. Aviles, 27. Kryvtsov, 18. Alba — 24. Gressel, 5. Busquets, 20. D. Gomez — 10. Messi, 9. Suarez, 16. Taylor.
LA Galaxy come into the 2024 season at less than full strength. Their biggest absence is young defensive star Jalen Neal, who had hernia surgery two weeks ago and will miss six to eight weeks in total. His return will be critical not just for the Galaxy, but also for the United States, as Neal figures to factor in heavily in the youth side that will compete in this summer’s Olympics.
Martin Caceres and Daniel Aguirre both missed time in preseason with fitness concerns but have regained their match availability., and both appear in the squad, with the former starting and the latter on the bench.
New big-money signing Joseph Paintsil starts in his Galaxy debut, and his addition is expected to be a positive one after scoring 14 goals and assisting 14 others in 30 Belgian top-flight matches with Genk last season. He has six and four, respectively, through just over half of the current campaign. Gabriel Pec, meanwhile, only just landed in the U.S. on Thursday and begins on the bench, though should push for a starting spot soon.
LA Galaxy starting lineup (4-3-3, right to left): 77. McCarthy (GK) — 2. Yamane, 22. Caceres, 4. Yoshida, 3. Aude — 8. Delgado, 10. Puig, 20. Cerrillo, — 28. Paintsil, 9. Joveljic, 7. Fagundez.
