Messi's Spain Award Trip Casts Doubt on Red Bulls Game

Lionel Messi will travel to Spain next week to receive the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports, with the ceremony in Oviedo scheduled for October 23 — less than 24 hours before Inter Miami visit Red Bull New York. The brutal turnaround has left his availability for the October 24 clash as one of the genuine question marks of the MLS weekend.

A royal honour in Oviedo

Lionel Messi is about to add another line to the most decorated résumé in football history. The Argentina captain will travel to Spain next week to receive the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports, one of the country's highest honours, at a ceremony scheduled for October 23 at the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo.

The award recognises careers of exceptional sporting achievement, and few careers in any sport match Messi's. At 39, he remains the heartbeat of Inter Miami, the all-time top scorer for both Argentina and Barcelona, and — as of October 6 — a retired international who closed his Albiceleste chapter with a 3-0 friendly win over Benin in Buenos Aires.

The trip is as much a state occasion as a footballing one. The Princess of Asturias Awards week brings laureates to Oviedo for days of civic events, and Messi's appearance will put him back on Spanish soil in a major ceremonial role for the first time since he left Barcelona in 2021.

A schedule with almost no margin

According to Inter Miami insider José Armando, Messi is expected to arrive in Oviedo on October 22 and take part in an afternoon meeting with people from the city as part of the awards week programme. The ceremony itself follows on October 23.

That leaves a brutally tight turnaround. Inter Miami are due in Harrison, New Jersey, for their match against Red Bull New York on October 24 at 5:30 p.m. ET — less than 24 hours after the ceremony ends in northern Spain. The transatlantic journey alone consumes most of that window, even before rest, recovery and preparation for a professional match are factored in.

Messi has built his late career on meticulous load management, and at 39 every long-haul flight is a calculation. The club has not commented publicly on any plan for his workload, and there is no indication at this stage that he will miss the game. His declared intention is to return in time to play. But the logistics leave his participation as one of the genuine question marks of the MLS weekend.

Will Messi play against Red Bull New York?

The honest answer is that nobody outside Inter Miami's inner circle knows yet. The club's priority will be balancing two competing demands: the ceremonial significance of the award — which is not the kind of honour a player skips — and a playoff push in which Messi is the single most decisive factor.

The most likely outcomes form a sliding scale rather than a binary: Messi could start as usual, come off the bench, or be rested entirely depending on how he feels after the trip. The decision will probably be made once the trip is closer and his condition can be assessed, rather than announced in advance.

There is also the context of the week that precedes it. Miami visit Atlanta United on October 17, a match that could shape the Eastern Conference standings before the New Jersey trip. How many minutes Messi plays there may offer the first hint of how the club intends to handle his energy across the busiest week of his season.

Miami's playoff push and the Golden Boot race

The timing matters because Inter Miami have plenty to play for. The 2-0 win over New York City FC, sealed with a Messi assist, clinched the club's place in the 2026 MLS Cup playoffs and lifted them to second in the Eastern Conference on 52 points.

Messi is also in the middle of the most efficient season of his Inter Miami career: 23 goals and 14 assists, with a goal contribution roughly every 61 minutes. Carlos Vela's single-season record of 34 goals from 2019 is still in reach with six regular-season games remaining, and a Golden Boot and a third straight MVP award are both live possibilities.

Missing — or even half-missing — a game against Red Bull New York would not derail any of that. Miami have already secured their playoff spot. But with the Supporters' Shield race and individual honours still in play, every appearance counts, which is why the club will weigh the Oviedo trip carefully against the standings.

The Ballon d'Or gala adds another variable

As if one transatlantic trip were not enough, the Ballon d'Or gala takes place on October 26 at the London Palladium, two days after the New Jersey match. Messi's attendance has not been confirmed, and earlier reporting by Fabrizio Romano suggested he has not been invited to present a trophy at the ceremony.

If Messi were to travel to London after the Red Bulls game, it would mean a second long-haul journey in less than a week — a punishing sequence for any 39-year-old, let alone one carrying a team's playoff hopes. That possibility is one more reason Inter Miami may be cautious about his minutes in Harrison.

For now, though, all of this remains speculative. The club has said nothing, and the only certainty is the award itself: Messi will be in Oviedo on October 23, honoured as one of the most successful players the sport has ever produced.

Argentina's first chapter without Messi

While Messi collects honours in Spain, his national team is already sketching life without him. World Soccer Talk reported that Argentina may already have its first opponent for the November international window — the first since Messi's retirement — with Costa Rican journalist Kevin Jimenez linking the Ticos as the likely opposition.

The Argentine Football Association has announced nothing yet, and the information comes from outside the country, but the report underlines how quickly the post-Messi era is taking shape. Ten days ago he was captaining the side against Benin; by November, Lionel Scaloni will be picking a squad for a new cycle without its greatest ever player.

What happens next

First, Atlanta United on October 17 — the last data point before the trip. Then Oviedo on October 22 and 23: the ceremony, and the race back across the Atlantic. Then Harrison, New Jersey, on October 24 at 5:30 p.m. ET, where Inter Miami will either have their captain or a very good excuse.

Whatever happens, the week will be remembered as one of the defining stretches of Messi's 39th year: a royal honour, a playoff push, a Golden Boot chase and a possible trip to London, all compressed into nine days.

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