Lionel Messi is chasing down the Union in the standings, and there isn’t much they can do about it

Perhaps you’ve heard about the contest at some sports events where a fan races a trained sprinter, is given a huge head start, and has to hold off the sprinter at the end.

The Union’s current situation isn’t quite that bad, but it’s growing ominous.

Though they enter Saturday’s game at lowly D.C. United (7:30 p.m., Apple TV) atop the Eastern Conference and leaguewide Supporters’ Shield race, Inter Miami’s footsteps are drawing closer. The Herons’ 4-0 smashing of New York City FC on Wednesday at Citi Field — not a good place for home teams these days — checked another of their games in hand off the list.

Now the standings gap is down to five points, with Miami still having two fewer games played. Should they take those six points, expect another TikTok avalanche of Lionel Messi lifting a trophy from Major League Soccer.

It’s not a big task, either. Three of Miami’s remaining games are against teams already out of the playoff race: Toronto on Saturday (4:30 p.m., Apple TV), then New England and Atlanta. The others are next Tuesday against Chicago, which is barely in the playoff field, and the regular-season finale at Nashville — the only truly good team of the bunch.

Because of that, it doesn’t really make sense to say the Union have a “magic number.” All they can do is what’s in their control: win their remaining games at D.C., home vs. New York City FC on Oct. 4, then at Charlotte in the Oct. 18 finale (where they’ve never won).

» READ MORE: Bruno Damiani’s goal gives the Union a much-needed win over New England

“We’re just trying to win every game that we have right now,” said centerback Olwethu Makhanya, who will return to the starting lineup Saturday after he was suspended from the last two league games. “We all understand what’s at stake, the opportunity, and the chances we have with the Supporters’ Shield. So we’re just trying to give it our best and give it our all and see if we can have it.”

Manager Bradley Carnell is as devoted to the one-game-at-a-time mantra as anyone. But it’s impossible to avoid talk of a trophy, even in his locker room, and he knows it’s more urgent for everyone else now that the Union are out of the U.S. Open Cup.

“The mood is, for sure, playing for something to win and not trying to play to protect something to lose,” Carnell said. “Which then creates a bit of freedom. If I all of a sudden now change the narrative from how I started the season, and have a fearful approach and a fear of failure, then we’re all doomed to fail.”

That point seems to be getting through, at least from his seat.

» READ MORE: Are the Union unraveling? It was worth asking during their recent losing streak

“I’ve never felt a sense of anxiety in the team,” he said. “I’ve never felt a sense of, like, ‘Oh, games are running out. We’ve got to get more points.’ … These boys in are an amazing spot to end the year on something special, but we can’t think about something special without doing the work in front of us.”

Carnell was just as insistent that D.C., next to-last in the East and third-to-last overall — with fewer than half the Union’s standings points (25 to 60) and one-third of their wins (5 to 18), to boot — is not a bad team.

“There’s no bad teams in the league,” he said. “We’re not entitled to anything, and that’s the way we approach it. We embrace that, and we know who we are, and I think that’s the impressive thing and that’s the important thing — that we acknowledge who we are, and what’s got us here will not necessarily get us there.”

» READ MORE: Where does FIFA’s decision to implement dynamic pricing for World Cup tickets fit into growing the game? We asked.

Here are the teams alive for the trophy heading into the weekend. A reminder that the first tiebreaker is total wins, followed by goal difference.

1. Union: 18-7-6, 60 points, 3 games left

2. FC Cincinnati: 58 pts., 18-9-4, 3 GL

3. San Diego FC: 57 pts., 17-8-6, 3 GL

4. Vancouver Whitecaps: 56 pts., 16-6-8, 56, 4 GL

5. Inter Miami: 55 pts., 16-6-7, 5 GL

6. Minnesota United: 54 pts., 15-7-9, 3 GL

7. Charlotte FC: 53 pts., 17-12-2, 3 GL

8. New York City FC: 53 pts., 16-10-5, 3 GL

9. Orlando City: 51 pts., 14-7-9, 4 GL

10. Los Angeles FC: 50 pts., 14-7-8, 5 GL

Officially, Nashville FC is ahead of LAFC in the standings, but Nashville has fewer games played, so it can’t catch the Union.