Lionel Messi is expected to miss Inter Miami’s trip to D.C. United on Saturday after coming off injured during their CONCACAF Champions Cup win over Nashville.
Miami booked their place in the Champions Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday night, with goals from Messi, Luis Suarez and Robert Taylor enough to seal a 5-3 aggregate victory.
Yet it wasn’t an entirely positive night for the hosts at Chase Stadium, as just five minutes into the second half their star man was taken off early to spark injury fears ahead of the international break.
After the win, Miami coach Tata Martino confirmed Messi was feeling discomfort in his right hamstring area, before all but ruling him out of their MLS clash with D.C. United this weekend.
Lionel Messi is set to miss Inter Miami’s trip to D.C. United on Saturday through injury
Messi only played 50 minutes of Miami’s Champions Cup win over Nashville on Wednesday
Tata Martino revealed that his star man was feeling discomfort in his right hamstring area
‘He is overloaded in the right posterior,’ Martino said about his fellow Argentine. ‘We don’t want to run a risk. We tried to see if he could go for a little longer, but it was bothering him, so we preferred for him to just get out of the game.’
On Saturday’s game in Washington, Martino added: ‘I don’t want to risk it, but I imagine that for Saturday’s game, he is not going to be available.
‘We’ll have an evaluation and see some imaging, and we will see how he progresses.’
After fighting back from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw in the first leg, Messi scored in the first half of a comfortable Miami victory in the second that wrapped up a 5-3 aggregate win over Nashville.
The Herons have secured a spot in the CONCACAF Champions Cup’s quarterfinals, where they will face either FC Cincinnati or Mexico’s Monterrey.
If he is sidelined on Saturday, Messi would miss a second consecutive MLS regular-season match. He was also rested last weekend as Miami lost 3-2 to visiting CF Montreal, with Martino acknowledging the team must be careful with the 36-year-old’s workload.
Both Messi and Luis Suarez were on the scoresheet for Miami as they cruised past Nashville
Suarez continued his fine form in the pink of Miami to open the scoring just eight minutes into Wednesday’s game, collecting a pass from Messi to poke past the keeper.
Messi was on the scoresheet a few minutes later, when he collected a pass from Diego Gomez, before firing past the goalkeeper and into the right-hand side of the net.
After the break, Taylor replaced Messi on 50 minutes and got a goal himself, directing a beautifully-weighted Suarez cross into the top corner.
In injury time, Sam Surridge pulled one back for Nashville, but it is Inter Miami and their star-studded roster that march on to the next round of the competition.
