Revealed: When Inter Miami decided to bench Lionel Messi – with Argentine superstar rested on the back of Supporters’ Shield triumph in MLS

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is seeing his game time carefully managed in Florida. Since recovering from an ankle injury suffered in the 2024 Copa America final, Messi has played the full 90 minutes for Inter Miami on four occasions.

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He has helped the Herons to Supporters’ Shield glory, collecting trophy No.46 of his remarkable career along the way. Inter Miami are now very much in the hunt for MLS Cup glory as they enter the play-offs as No.1 seeds and with home-field advantage wrapped up.

Martino wants Messi firing on all cylinders when it matters most, telling reporters of why he gave his talismanic captain just half-an-hour in a 1-0 win over Toronto: “We made the decision on Friday to rest the players, it made sense after two full games that we make some rotations, and we had players ready to go. We were able to complete our two objectives. One was to give players some rest and also to win the game because of what it means from a motivational standpoint to be in position to break the points record.”

Messi and Inter Miami remain in contention to post the highest single season points tally that MLS has ever seen. Victory over New England in their final regular season fixture will take them to 74 – one more than the Revolution managed back in 2021.