Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano confirmed Lionel Messi will not travel with the team to face Orlando City on Sunday night at Inter&co Stadium, admitting it would be too big of a risk for the player given the busy schedule.
Messi suffered a “minor” muscle injury in his right leg during the Leagues Cup match against Necaxa on Aug. 2, forcing the player to the sidelines. The timeline for his return remains undetermined, with the club originally announcing the progress would depend on the response to treatment.
“No, Leo will not be available tomorrow,” said Mascherano on Saturday. “Leo is okay, but obviously it would be crazy to take the risk of taking him to Orlando because of all that is ahead. We are optimistic that he will soon return with us.”
Inter Miami will face Orlando City on Sunday, before hosting the LA Galaxy on Aug. 16 and playing the Leagues Cup quarterfinals just three days later.
The team qualified to the knockout round of the Leagues Cup tournament after recording eight points from three games in the first phase of the tournament to reach second place in the table. Inter Miami triumphed against Pumas and Atlas, and drew 2-2 against Necaxa before winning the penalty shoot out for the additional point that propelled the MLS club to the quarterfinals.
Now, Inter Miami will face Tigres UANL on Aug. 20.
“Tigres is a great team, they showed that last night against Puebla, it is a team with players of hierarchy that always fights for important things in their league and internationally,” said Mascherano.
“But when you play these tournaments, when you pretend you can cross one or the other, in the end, it isn’t in our hands to control that.
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“We did what was in our hands to qualify, by a little we couldn’t be leaders but now we will try to focus on the two upcoming MLS matches then we will focus on the Leagues Cup match.”
Given the schedule, Mascherano insists on taking any necessary precaution to protect the health of each player while prioritizing a victory.
“We play to win, and to win all games. If we have the possibility to finish the regular season in first place that would be great, it’s good in terms of the advantages you can have in playoffs but we already saw last year that [having home advantage] doesn’t mean anything,” said Mascherano.
“But our idea is to treat the 12 remaining MLS games to win all 12. If we have the possibility to play all three Leagues Cup games, to win Leagues Cup. And go game by game. The requirements and responsibility at this club is to go out and win all games we play.
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