Alexis Sanchez and Lionel Messi Reunite in MLS as Montreal Hosts Inter Miami

Some reunions don't need a final on the line to matter. This one is worth watching for what it once was, not what's at stake now: Alexis Sanchez and Lionel Messi will share a field again tonight in MLS, when Montreal hosts Inter Miami at 7:30 p.m. Chile time.

This isn't the Copa America or a South American qualifier. There's no trophy waiting for the winner, none of the tension of those 2015 and 2016 finals, when Chile ended up celebrating and Argentina in tears. But when two players who shared a locker room and so many international battles cross paths again, a little nostalgia always creeps in, even if tonight's score ends up as a footnote in their careers.

For Sanchez, this will be just his third match since arriving in North American soccer. The Tocopilla native is still finding his footing with a Montreal side that's far from its best form: the Canadian club sits in second-to-last place in the Eastern Conference, though the gap to the playoff spots isn't as wide as the standings suggest, just three points separate them from cracking the top eight.

In Montreal, Alexis isn't the only Chilean around. He shares the roster with goalkeeper Thomas Gillier, also born in Chile, on a team that needs to keep picking up points to stay in the playoff race.

Across the field will be an Inter Miami side living a very different reality. The Florida club sits second in its conference, behind Nashville, and continues to lean on Messi's brilliance to sustain that level. The Argentine arrived in MLS as an attraction all his own, something the league hadn't seen in years, and every one of his matches still draws audiences well beyond the United States.

A Friendship Forged in Barcelona

The bond between the two didn't start in MLS or on South American fields. It was built at FC Barcelona, where Sanchez played from 2011 to 2014. During that stretch he made 141 official appearances, scored 47 goals, added 35 assists and won six titles wearing the blaugrana jersey, many of those achievements shared with a Messi who was already the team's biggest star.

That era left behind a relationship that outlasted the colors and the rivalry that later grew between Chile and Argentina. That's why tonight's meeting, even if it settles nothing of consequence, carries that extra flavor: two friends who became global stars, facing off again, now in a league neither of them imagined as a destination back when they shared a locker room at Camp Nou.

Nobody expects this match to change the course of either team's season. But for those who followed those afternoons in Spain closely, or the clashes between La Roja and La Albiceleste at the Copa America, seeing Alexis and Messi share a pitch again is reason enough to stay up late.