Here's how it goes for Inter Miami right now when it comes to the injured Lionel Messi: The team keeps saying he might play, and then he doesn't play.
That pattern held true again Saturday, when the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner was scratched from the matchday squad for a matchup against New York City FC — a game with significant Major League Soccer playoff implications for both clubs.
Messi has a leg injury, the severity of which has not been revealed by Inter Miami. — Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.) The team announced that Messi would not play about 45 minutes before Saturday's game time.
The 36-year-old superstar has now missed Inter Miami's past three games and four of its past five, plus another for Argentina in that span, because of what was first called fatigue — by both his club and country — and has evolved from there.