Lionel Messi sits out third straight game for Inter Miami - ESPN

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.

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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. The only game he didn't miss during that stretch was a 37-minute appearance against Toronto on Sept. 20, and he had to leave that match before halftime because of what the team has said is a leg injury related to an old scar tissue problem.

Saturday's absence came with Inter Miami entering the night five points behind NYCFC with two matches in hand. It still controls its playoff destiny, trying to make a push for one of the nine playoff spots out of the Eastern Conference.

After Saturday, the team will have only four MLS matches remaining. And Messi's status for them remains a mystery, even as some fans pay hundreds of dollars — or more — to attend a match with hopes of seeing him play.

Many fans on social media have responded to posts from the team with outrage over the lack of transparency about Messi's status. A post previewing the NYCFC match, sent around midday Saturday,