Lionel Messi is expected to sit out a second straight game for Inter Miami in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup match against Cavalier FC on Thursday at Chase Stadium, a source confirmed to ESPN.
The player did not suffer any injury, but will watch from afar in an effort to manage his workload and avoid any potential injury, the source added.
Messi also missed Miami’s win over the Houston Dynamo in MLS on Sunday, leading the Texas side to offer fans who attended the game free tickets to another match later this season.
Head coach Javier Mascherano reiterated that Messi was physically healthy and not injured during the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
“Leo is training. He trained yesterday, he trained today. We’ll see, he’s in good health, but we’ll see what’s good for us,” he said. “The chances [that Leo plays] are the same as the rest of the players.
“We’ll see. We’ll see what decision we make tomorrow. As of today, I haven’t confirmed 100% of the team.”
Media watched the first 15 minutes of training on Wednesday morning, where Messi looked to be playing normally alongside his teammates. Fafà Picault was the only Inter Miami player training separately from the group as he recovers from an injury sustained in the first week of the 2025 season.
Miami will face Charlotte FC on Sunday before traveling to Jamaica to face Cavalier for the second leg of the round-of-16 series on March 13.
