Lionel Messi is reaching his “physical limit” and may not start for Inter Miami against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, according to Inter Miami head coach Tata Martino.
Inter Miami and Messi focus on the primary task at hand on Saturday after the high-octane exhilaration of their triumphant Leagues Cup campaign and the joy of their comeback victory in the US Open Cup semi-final.
The Major League Soccer regular season is back in full swing, and Miami, who will be visiting the New York Red Bulls, has a difficult challenge before of it: moving up from last place in the Eastern Conference to a playoff spot.
Miami had the poorest record in the whole MLS before to the break for the League Cup and Messi’s arrival along with Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. They had lost all 11 of their games.
In the majority of leagues throughout the world, a team in that situation would only be concerned with staying in the top division.
However, the MLS does not have relegation; instead, it has a playoff system, which can yet provide a path for the revamped Miami, led by Argentine coach Martino, to contend for the trophy—MLS Cup.
The top nine teams in each conference advance to the playoffs, with the top seven teams playing in a best-of-three series in the first round.
To advance to the first round, the eighth and ninth-placed teams compete against one another in a single elimination “wild card” match.
With 12 games remaining, Miami are presently 14 points behind ninth place and have little margin for error.
Although they have gone unbeaten in eight games and have won three of their knockout matches on penalties, their recent form—which includes the addition of Messi and his two former Barcelona teammates—indicates that a playoff run is not out of the question.
After Wednesday’s shootout victory against Cincinnati in the US Open Cup, Inter coach Martino acknowledged that it will be a tough battle to turn around Inter’s MLS season. Making it much more difficult is the fact that his key player was amongst those feeling the pace of their recent exertions.
Leo and many other players are “reaching a critical physical limit,” he added. “Starting today, we will evaluate how we approach the next three matches.”
“All the enthusiasm overcomes the exhaustion… I hope the squad plays better in the future, but it’s really hard to achieve so when you practically never get to relax,” he continued.
If one or more of Messi, Busquets, or Alba start on the bench at Red Bull Arena on Saturday, Martino will still have the option of inserting them into the game in the second half.
The Red Bulls, who are 11 points ahead of Miami in the East standings, have their own aspirations of making the postseason.
Cincinnati, the league’s first-place team in the Eastern Conference, will play home to 2021 champions New York City in Saturday’s games. St. Louis City, the league’s top team in the West, will travel to Orlando City.
The reigning champions Los Angeles FC will play Charlotte FC in North Carolina.
