Tata Martino has explained the surprise decision last night to take off Lionel Messi early on in Inter Miami’s CONCACAF Champions Cup tie against Nashville SC.

 

The Argentine international was on a tear in the opening half after assisting Luis Suarez for the opener and then grabbing one himself in what was to be a 3-1 win for Inter Miami.

Yet there were gasps and concerns felt around Chase Stadium when Messi was brought off at the 50th-minute mark, with injury fears against coming to the surface surrounding the 36-year-old forward.

Tata Martino explains Lionel Messi substitution vs Nashville

And speaking to MLS’s official website, Martino confirmed that Messi was feeling discomfort, with Inter Miami staff making the decision to save the Argentine from a potential problem.

With Inter Miami going on to secure progression to the next round of the Champions Cup, the decision to bring off Messi was a wise one with the games coming thick and fast for the Herons.

And Martino sounded justified in his decision to bring off Messi, with the Inter Miami manager saying about the substitution: “He is overloaded in the right posterior.

“We don’t want to run a risk. We tried to see if he could go for a little longer, but it was bothering him, so we preferred for him to just get out of the game.”

Inter Miami will hope Lionel Messi’s latest injury isn’t serious

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Messi has already endured one injury scare this year after playing against Nashville, and Inter Miami fans will hope the club captain’s latest issue isn’t too serious.

With DC United coming up next for the Herons, supporters will be hopeful that the attacker makes the road trip to the nation’s capital, where points away from Florida will be huge.

Indeed, Martino and his team will want to keep Messi as fit as possible, and if that means resting the Argentine, then the Inter Miami staff must do exactly that.