Inter Miami are holding their breath a little bit after their comfortable win over Nashville SC on Wednesday night, advancing them to the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals, and Lionel Messi’s performance.
The club defeated Nashville 3-1, but lost Messi five minutes into the second half after he left the pitch in a shocking substitution early in the game.
Head coach Tata Martino told reporters after the match that Messi was sidelined due to a minor foot injury and was “likely to miss” Saturday’s MLS regular-season game against DC United.
“We’re definitely going to get images,” Martino added. According to the Inter Miami Podcast.
According to , this problem may be related to hamstring tightness. Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald.
Messi recorded a goal and an assist in Inter Miami’s victory and was sent off in the 50th minute.
The soccer superstar assisted Luis Suarez’s goal in the 8th minute, and in the 23rd minute Messi converted his own shot to make it 2-0.
Diego Gomez fed Messi the ball inside the box and the Argentine was able to slot the ball into the top right corner of the goal.
However, things changed when Messi came on as a substitute for Robert Taylor.
“We know that Messi did not intend to play every game when the season started.” Martino said. “It’s not just replacing a player, it’s replacing the greatest player of all time. Nashville was losing, so we had to adjust the game to accommodate his absence.”
Messi missed Sunday’s regular-season game against Montreal, and there was already an injury concern after suffering a hit to his shin last week.
