Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano has decided to rest captain Lionel Messi for Saturday’s MLS regular-season match at Charlotte FC on Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium, a source confirmed to ESPN.
The choice to rest Messi comes from Mascherano, and not due to any current injury.
The Argentine captain last played for Inter Miami on Wednesday night against Nashville SC in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup round of 16, drawing 0-0 at GEODIS Park. Messi played the entire match.
Messi’a Miami and Argentina teammate Rodrigo De Paul will also be absent from Saturday night’s action, a source confirmed to ESPN.
Messi and de Paul both formed part of the previous Inter Miami squad that played at Bank of America Stadium in September 2025, when the team fell 3-0 in Charlotte. The stadium’s artificial grass did not play a decisive role in Mascherano’s game-day squad, with Messi, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and De Paul all featuring in the regular season match.
Following Saturday’s game, Inter Miami will host Nashville for the second-leg match on March 18 at Chase Stadium for a ticket to the tournament’s quarterfinals.
Though Mascherano previously admitted the Concacaf Champions Cup is a priority for Inter Miami, the coach has insisted he will be treating all competitions equally throughout the year.
“We’re not a team that chooses which competitions to play in; we’re obligated to compete in all of them,” he said. Clearly, the Champions League is the only competition the club normally plays in that we’re missing, and it’s generating a lot of excitement for all of us. Now, what we can’t allow is for this to become an obsession. It’s one thing to be excited, another to be obsessed.”
Inter Miami currently boasts six points in MLS after earning two wins and one loss to start the 2026 campaign.
