Lionel Messi set to miss Miami-Orlando match with scar tissue issue

Lionel Messi will not be ready for Inter Miami CF’s matchup against intrastate rival Orlando City on Sunday due to a scar tissue situation that stems from an injury when he was playing with the Argentina national team earlier this month, the team confirmed Friday.

Head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino was without Messi and his former Barcelona teammate Jordi Alba at Friday’s training session and will be again on Sunday for the actual game.

“Basically, Leo is still dealing with his old scar tissue, and Jordi with muscle pain,” Martino said at a news conference Friday, per ESPN. “They are both day-to-day.”

Martino did not go into any specifics about Messi’s condition and what is specifically bothering the star, saying, “I am not a doctor. It bothers him, not hurts him. I do not know why.

“It is probable that these scars bother [him] and don’t allow him to even be mentally free to play a game. It is difficult. We have all experienced pain when we have hit our scars on the corner of a table and this is like that.”

Messi and Alba have seen little action lately as both exited Wednesday’s 4-0 victory against Toronto FC before the end of the first half.

That came after both skipped the team’s Atlanta trip just four days before.

Messi also missed two games prior to Wednesday night — one for Inter Miami and the other for the Argentinian national team — and cited fatigue as the reason for both games.

Despite the news, Martino shared his trust in Messi to play and exit any game that he feels necessary.

“The truth is I have not spoken again to Leo since the match, but his experience gives him the capacity, even during a match to know when to stop, when to say enough and when to take precautions,” Martino said.

“It seems very prudent at this stage in his career that he does that more than ever. And I say this on behalf of all of us, because we want to see Leo on the pitch for a long time. It is good for me that he is aware that he notices when he has to stop this, like he did in the Ecuador game.”

The 36-year-old trained twice since his absence from the Atlanta trip.

Martino said he played Messi on Wednesday with full confidence that he was healthy enough.

“In training, he looked good, and he told me that,” Martino said. “If there had even been the slightest doubt, he would not have played.”

Messi still could be available for next week’s U.S. Open Cup Final against the Houston Dynamo, but Miami’s schedule could be starting to take a toll on the team before they even get there.

Miami played eight games in August and four in September and now has five more lined up across 14 days.

“We knew advancing in the Leagues Cup would have a price, especially because we did more movement in the summer and added more players and others who came from European football,” Martino said.

“We knew we were going to pay a price somewhere, but we cannot complain; we must see the positive side. We came from a place where we were the farthest from our objectives in the league standings to where we are today, the amount of points we now have.”

Miami sits in 13th place in the Eastern Conference and five points out of playoff position.