Inter Miami and Argentina sweating on Messi fitness after latest injury update
Inter Miami and Argentina are waiting anxiously to find out the extent of Lionel Messi ’s injury.
The 36-year-old scored his fifth goal of the season in the 3-1 victory over Nashville SC in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup round of 16. However, he had to be substituted after sustaining a leg injury and according to Miami’s assistant coach Javi Morales, Messi is undergoing tests to find out how serious the injury is.
He seems almost certain to be ruled out of Saturday's league match against D.C. United and if the injury is worse than feared, he may not be available for his country’s friendlies against El Salvador and Costa Rica on March 22 and 26 respectively.
"I don't want to take any risks but I imagine that he won't be available for Saturday's game," Miami boss Tata Martino said. "That's the only thing I can say about it now.
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“We'll have some tests soon and we'll see how he feels. Leo has a muscle overload in his right leg. We don't want to take any kind of risk with him. We tried to see if he could last a little longer after halftime, but it was bothering him, so we preferred to take him out of the game."
Messi's exit in the 50th minute was the earliest second-half substitution of his career. He did not play in the team’s only defeat so far this season, which was a 3-2 loss to CF Montréal on Sunday, March 10.
The club is carefully managing the football icon’s workload due to a busy schedule with Inter Miami and Copa America in the summer, where Argentina look to defend their title. As a result, Martino knows the veteran will not feature in every game for the MLS Eastern Conference team. "We knew when the season started that Messi was not going to play all games," he added. "If he's not playing or we have to replace him, for me it's not just missing out any other player, he's the best player of all time."
Before his early exit against Nashville, Messi scored and assisted Luis Suarez, who said his fellow attacker discussed his fitness concerns with him. “He told me that he had a little discomfort, but it will depend on how he evolves in the next few hours,” the Uruguayan said after the game.
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Lionel Messi could miss Argentina's upcoming friendlies against El Salvador and Costa Rica (Michael Regan - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)The former Liverpool and Barcelona star enjoyed six successful years alongside Messi at the Catalan giants and is delighted they are back together again in the US. Alongside their other former Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, Suarez is making the most of his time playing with them once again.
"We spent many years playing together in Barcelona and it is nice to be back together," he added. "We know each other too well, we almost always know where the other is positioned almost by heart and we try to transfer that for the benefit of Inter Miami.
"We are enjoying this possibility of playing together again, enjoying a football that is new for me and trying to make people enjoy it. We have made a lot of sacrifices over the last 20 years and we deserve to enjoy these last few years of our career a little."
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