Although Lionel Messi will not be participating in the MLS Cup Playoffs, he may play spoiler when Inter Miami plays Charlotte FC in their regular-season finale on Saturday night.
Since Labor Day, Messi’s only appearances and total minutes played for Miami (9-17-7, 34 points) have been two due to a leg issue. By the time he could play again, the Herons were out of the postseason picture after losing 1-0 at home to Cincinnati on October 7 after he was substituted in the second half.
Messi, though, responded by making two appearances for Argentina in World Cup qualification, playing the full ninety minutes of the later game, a 2-0 victory over Peru on Tuesday, and scoring twice.
He was back in time to see Miami and Charlotte’s 2-2 tie in Florida on Wednesday, and he had stated following his performance on Tuesday that he planned to play on Saturday.
The Charlotte Observer reports that Miami manager Tata Martino stated after the game, “The most important thing is the 90 minutes he played, that he felt well and played confidently and not worried about his injury. After an injury, your head may play tricks on you. We’ll check to see if he’s prepared to play on Saturday.”
Charlotte (9-11-13, 40 points) finds itself in an unusual situation ahead of a game it needs to win in order to secure one of the nine postseason positions in the Eastern Conference.
Due to the match between Chicago and New York City FC on Saturday, one of the two clubs will undoubtedly move up to 41 points or higher. The Crown starts the weekend as one of four teams tied for the ninth slot.
Charlotte will regret blowing two late leads in their 2-2 draw in Florida, but their top scorer Karol Swiderski should be fit to go from the bench on Wednesday after suiting up for Poland the day before. At least not in public, Charlotte head coach Christian Lattanzio isn’t guessing if Messi will play.
“If he plays, he plays,” Lattanzio said. “And we have to deal with, to play against all the players that they have. We have to focus on ourselves and we have to play our game. And also, we have our supporters on our side and we hope that they will really be behind the guys like they always do.”