Red Bulls Soccer Fans Paid Hundreds To See Messi Play Tonight, And He May Sit Out

The Lionel Messi craze is real right now across the country with both diehard and casual soccer fans losing their minds over one of the world's best now playing here in America.

The sheer buzz of Messi has made him a must-see.

The man can no longer go out in public without absolutely getting mobbed. And when his Inter Miami team has a game? You can be sure to pay big money to see greatness up close, especially when he's been scoring non-stop.

THE GOAT HAS BEEN ABSOLUTELY DOMINANT HERE IN THE STATES

So you can understand how, for weeks now, New York Red Bulls fans have been going absolutely wild with anticipation over tonight's Red Bulls game against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.

...or so they thought.

Yes, despite some fans paying upwards of $3,000 a ticket because it's New York City and that's how we do, Messi... may not even suit up tonight.

Could you imagine?

And I thought LeBron and the NBA's workload management was bad.

Lionel Messi may not play tonight against the Red Bulls in a highly anticipated match. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

MESSI IS MAKING SOCCER A POP CULTURE SPORT

According to Messi's head coach Tata Martino, Messi may use tonight as a rest day after having played in every game so far this season. “This will happen at least three times this year, and next year more,” Martino said before adding that the team "will have to find a solution" when Messi isn't playing.

Martino told reporters yesterday that it was still being assessed whether he would play or not as of last night.

Not an ideal thing to hear if you dropped a ton of money for tonight's game thinking you'd see the star player.

Red Bulls rookie head coach Troy Lesesne said the team's game plan is the same whether Messi's out there or not.

“Our preparation is solely focused around what we want to do. If that includes the best player in the world, maybe of all time, then we have a plan for that, or if he’s not included in the starting eleven," the coach told reporters on Friday.

Currently StubHub tickets are still over $380 a ticket. No Messi though would be an absolute bummer for those that had been anticipating seeing him just for him to be a no show.

Kickoff for tonight's game is at 7:30pm ET and will be available on Apple TV+, or Times Square for those in New York City.