Inter Miami star Lionel Messi will not be available for Sunday’s match against Orlando City FC at Miami City Stadium. The Argentine suffered a scar tissue situation caused by an injury sustained while playing with Argentina earlier this month, Inter Miami CF officials said Friday.
Head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino was without Messi and his former Barcelona teammate Jordi Alba at Friday’s training session and will be again on Sunday for the actual game.
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“Basically, Leo is still dealing with his old scar tissue, and Jordi with muscle pain,” Martino said at a news conference Friday. “They are both day-to-day.”
While Martino declined to discuss Messi’s current state and what is causing it, he said, “I’m not a doctor, but it bothers him, not hurt him. I don’t know why.”
“It is probable that these scars bother [him] and don’t allow him to even be mentally free to play a game. It is difficult. We have all experienced pain when we have hit our scars on the corner of a table and this is like that.”
Messi and Alba have seen little action lately, having exited Wednesday’s 4-0 victory against Toronto FC before the end of the first half.
That came after both skipped the team’s Atlanta trip just four days before.
Messi also missed two games prior to Wednesday night — one for Inter Miami and the other for the Argentinian national team — and cited fatigue as the reason.
Despite the news, Martino shared his trust in Messi to play and exit any game that he feels necessary.
“The truth is I have not spoken again to Leo since the match, but his experience gives him the capacity, even during a match to know when to stop, when to say enough and when to take precautions,” Martino said.
Miami sits in 13th place in the Eastern Conference and five points out of playoff position.
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