Following Lionel Messi‘s premature departure from Inter Miami‘s September 20 game against Toronto FC, many wondered if they would see the club captain in action again this season. On Saturday night, Messi put any rumors to rest, returning from the nagging hamstring injury that kept him out of four games.
His return wasn’t enough to save Miami from its playoff destiny, though. Inter dug themselves into too deep of a hole before Messi’s arrival, and Messi’s recent injury made things tougher. Cicinnati’s 1-0 victory mathematically eliminated Miami from MLS playoff contention.
Lione Messi returns from injury
It was the 55th minute when Messi came off the bench and attempted to spark some life into a goalless stalemate.
Lionel Messi makes his return vs. FC Cincinnati
Messi and Inter Miami couldn’t create enough clear scoring chances in the final 30 minutes, and Cincinnati took advantage. A hard strike from Yuya Kubo was parried away by Drake Callender, but Alvaro Barreal pounced on it and buried it into the back of the net.
Alvaro Barreal scores goal to eliminate Inter Miami from playoff contention.
Now that he’s healthy and fit enough for high-intensity game evironments, Messi will likely take part in Argentina’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Peru. The qualifiers should allow Messi to get his cardio levels and form back to normal.
Inter Miami still have two regular season games left to play, but it’s unclear if Messi will play given that the games will not hold any true weight. Cincinnati, meanwhile, has clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.