Inter Miami head coach Tata Martino said Lionel Messi is healthy and available for his side’s match at Atlanta United on Saturday, but cautioned his team would still have to be careful with the Argentina star.
Messi only played in one of Argentina’s two matches over the recent international break. The 36-year-old scored the winner against Ecuador last week before being substituted late due to what he called fatigue.
Though he traveled to Bolivia, Messi would then sit out Argentina’s second match of the window — a 3-0 victory for the World Cup champions.
With his team’s superstar back for a playoff push, Martino said he would make a decision on his involvement after training on Friday.
“[Messi] is fine. But we will wait until after training today to make a decision,” Martino told the media on Friday, adding that Messi trained with the team on Thursday as well.
“We will be careful with him because we have a lot of important games in a short span. But the idea is to not get Leo or any other player injured.”
When asked if Messi was injured at all, Martino replied: “He doesn’t have an injury.”
(UPDATE: Messi reportedly didn’t travel to Atlanta, which he appeared to confirm on Friday night by posting a video on Instagram of his pizza order in Miami)
Currently on a 12-game unbeaten run in all competitions, Inter Miami is getting closer to climbing back into MLS playoff position. Martino’s side is still second-bottom in the Eastern Conference, but is now only six points back of D.C. United in the last playoff position, with two games in hand.
The match against Atlanta was set to be the first time Messi played on artificial turf since his arrival to Inter Miami. Though there had been some speculation he could opt out of such matches, Messi said last month he was happy to play on turf.
“I played all of my youth career on artificial turf,” Messi told reporters. “It’s been a long time since I played on turf, but I don’t have a problem with it.”
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