Messi pulls out of Inter Miami game after Ronaldo injury scuppered grudge match
Lionel Messi will miss Inter Miami's friendly clash with Al-Nassr, joining his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo on missing out, who is also ruled out through injury.
The two teams will take each other on this evening at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, but the game will go ahead without the two headline names involved. Messi has pulled out having felt discomfort in Inter's previous outing against Al-Hilal, per the Miami Herald.
The report claims that in the aftermath of the 4-3 defeat in which Messi scored from the spot, the Argentine underwent an MRI scan and will take a place on the bench but is expected not to come on.
READ MORE: Al-Nassr vs Inter Miami LIVE: Score updates as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi BOTH miss out
It is understood that the decision to withdraw Messi from the starting eleven is a precautionary one, with the World Cup winner expected to make a comeback at some point during franchise's pre-season tour. The match between Messi and Ronaldo had been a highly anticipated one in the build-up.
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Having been billed 'The Last Dance', with the pair set to meet for one final time, the match will now go ahead without both footballing greats thanks to fitness issues. Ronaldo was the first to pull out, after a decision on his playing status was made on Wednesday.
The Portuguese star is also nurturing an injury problem, which has kept him out of training in recent days. Al-Nassr boss Luis Castro claimed: "We will not see [Ronaldo vs Messi].
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will both miss the clash"Ronaldo is in the final part of his recovery to join the group. We hope that in the next few days he can start working with the team. He will be absent from the game."
Having shared a great rivalry during their playing days at Barcelona and Real Madrid, the iconic duo last faced off in another friendly last year whilst Messi was with Paris Saint Germain and Ronaldo turned out for Riyadh All Stars.
And it appears this could well have been the 'Last Dance' amid their current injury issues. Messi made the Major League Soccer move last summer, and since then has scored 11 times in 14 appearances for the Miami franchise.
The Argentine's first season with the club was marred by injury though, after he was forced to miss the majority of the end of the campaign due to fitness struggles. Ronaldo's recent problem meanwhile was sustained ahead of Al-Nassr's planned tour to China.
Having been forced to pull out, the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga winner issued an apology to his fans who were hoping to catch a glimpse of the great whilst in East Asia. "I want to say sorry to the Chinese fans, especially in Shenzhen, because as you know, in football, some things you cannot control," Ronaldo said.
"I [have come] to China since 2003, 2004, so I feel home here... We have to see this in a good way. When I say in a good way, I mean, we [have] not cancelled the game. We're going to postpone the game. We want to be back here to your country. We will be back."
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