Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez drew a blank of their Inter Miami reunion on Friday night, with the attacking stars playing 45 minutes in the team's disappointing 0-0 tie with El Salvador.
The attackers played the first half before being substituted off at the halftime break alongside Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba as they brushed away the dust with their first minutes of preseason for the Major League Soccer team.
Messi showed flashes of brilliance from deeper on the field - moments of close control and one sumptuous pass from deep as Alba bombarded down the left flank, a combination that worked so well last year.
Suarez was seen with ice around his right knee as he watched the second half from the sidelines - a presumably cautious measure given the forward has struggled with an underlying problem in recent times.
But a disappointing night in front of goal was tarnished further when, in the second half, Facundo Farias went off on a stretcher with an apparent knee injury after a mistimed challenge from Darwin Ceren.
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami were held to a 0-0 tie with El Salvador on Friday night
Luis Suarez played the first 45 minutes of Miami's goalless draw with El Salvador
The game was the first of seven preseason matches Miami have lined up for the new season
Miami and coach Tata Martino will be praying it isn't serious, but it did not look great.
Martino started with a 5-3-2 formation for Miami, with Busquets anchoring the midfield as Messi and Suarez led the attack. Julian Gressel joined Suarez in making his Miami debut, with the former Atlanta man playing as right-wing back.
Perhaps surprisingly Robert Taylor, the Finland international who combined so well with Messi in the early days of his Miami career, was a substitute but it is too early to read too far into Martino's line-ups at this stage.
That said, Martino will want to see a bit more out of his attackers as they rebuild their fitness ahead of the new season.
Messi's teammate Leo Campana said after the game: 'More than anything the first week we are working on fitness, so we have to stay calm, keep working on what we’re doing because we have a great group of players.
'I was happy to be back with my teammates, we are like a family and looking forward to starting the season to show what we’re made of.”
There were 53,000 fans packed into Estadio Cuscatlan and a smattering of boos when the stars they were all there to see did not return for the second half. They had earlier lined the streets to give a wild welcome to Messi, Suarez and the Miami team ahead of the game
Messi went closest to scoring in the 36th minute, exchanging snappy passes with Busquets - after smart play from Alba and Suarez - before letting fly from the edge of the area with a left-footed strike on the bounce.
Suarez could be seen with ice on his knee as he watched Miami's second half on the sidelines
Suarez has struggled with an underlying knee issues in the latter years of his career
In the meantime, Miami face concern over Facundo Farias after he went off on a stretcher
It was straight at the El Salvador goalkeeper Mario Martinez, however, who beat the ball away before his defense cleared the danger.
Miami now return to the United States and play Dallas in a friendly on Monday night at the stunning 92,000-seater Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
It will be the second of seven preseason games Miami will embark on before the MLS season-opener against Real Salt Lake on February 21.
In that time, Miami will head to Saudi Arabia for a friendly against Al-Nassr on February 1, that will pit Messi against his old foe Cristiano Ronaldo.
That will be the fourth friendly of Miami's preseason, with a game against Al-Hilal, home to injured Brazil star Neymar, planned for January 29.
Miami will also play a Hong Kong XI and Japanese team Vissel Kobe before rounding off preseason with a game against Messi's boyhood team from Argentina in Newell's Old Boys.