San Jose Earthquakes head coach Bruce Arena defended his decision to prevent Lionel Messi from received a “ridiculous” red card after their collision with Inter Miami in midweek.
The earthquakes played a 3-3 draw with the Javier Mascherano team, although Messi let his frustrations cook on the full-time whistle.
The Argentinian was unhappy about a decision not to grant a mistake on the edge of the box leaves in the game and immediately understood his way to referee Joe Dickerson after the game.
He received a yellow card for his actions and continued to announce his feelings despite the situation, in which Arena came in to prevent further escalation.
“He was clearly not happy and I wanted to make sure he would not get a red card,” said Arena in his postgame press conference.
“I just tried to avoid him, because for him to get a red card at the end of the game would have been ridiculous.
“I just wanted to make sure we get it away and he is ready to play the next game for Miami.”
Respect between these two pic.twitter.com/xflehtxfyk
– San Jose Earthquakes (@sjearthquakes) 15 May 2025
This weekend's game, Arena will return to the Gillette Stadium to counter his old team, the revolution in New England, where he spent four years in the club.
He led the speed to the Shield of the supporters in 2021 before he resigned in September 2023, with New England struggling in their first season without him at the helm.
Caleb Porter, the man who took over the Revs from Arena, explained his admiration for the 73-year-old and expects a tough test against his San Jose side.
“They are a very good attacking team. They have scored many goals and created many opportunities, while they also have a lot of talent in their forward line,” Porter said.
“They prefer an open game where those front -boys can run and have the freedom to hurt you in open spaces.
“They really bloom in that kind of game, but it also means that they also give up some opportunities and goals.
“Their last game will be the kind of example of the game they like to play. It will be a difficult game, a difficult one because they are a very good team.”
Players to watch
New England Revolution – Carles Gil
Gil has contributed to a goal in five consecutive games of the regular season, equal to the longest line of his career (fifth time).
Only Adam Buksa in 2022 and Gustavo Bou in 2021 In the last 15 seasons, target contributions registered in six consecutive league games for the REVS.
Sj Earthquakes – Cristian Arango
With his goal on Wednesday against Inter Miami, Arango scored nine goals this season, the second most in MLS.
He scored five goals in his last five games in the regular season and will want to continue that run at the Gillette Stadium.
Match prediction: New England Revolution Win
This will be the first meeting between New England and San Jose in more than six years, since a 3-1 Revs home win on 11 May 2019. San Jose has not defeated New England since he scored a 1-0 win in March 2012.
New England has collected 16 points of their last seven games in the regular season (W5 D1 L1). The Revs had achieved a total of 10 points from their previous 19 regular seasonal competitions that goes back to last July (W2 D4 L13).
In the meantime, San Jose won their last away match on 10 May, 2-0, in Colorado. In July 2019, the earthquakes did not win any consecutive road races in all competitions in all competitions, since he won against De La Galaxy and Vancouver WhiteCaps.
Opta wins probability
New England Revolution – 49.3%
Drawing – 25.5%
SJ -Aardvakings – 25.2%