'Leo is good' - Inter Miami's Javier Mascherano says Lionel Messi expected to return to lineup after injury absence

Lionel Messi is expected to return to the pitch for Inter Miami for the first time since March 16, coach Javier Mascherano said Friday. The Argentine suffered a muscle strain in a victory over Atlanta United that day, playing 90 minutes while scoring the opening goal in the match.

He missed the international break with Argentina as a result of the knock, but trained fully on Friday, and is now available for selection Saturday night in Miami's MLS match against the Philadelphia Union.

"Leo is good, God willing and if nothing weird happens, he will be named to the matchday roster," Mascherano said, adding that they've taken a progressive approach to his rehabilitation.

"Well, we've been taking it progressively. Leo is a very special player in that sense, a player who, well, obviously sometimes needs to be restrained so he doesn't take risks, but he also knows his body very well, and the reality is that he's been training progressively more and more. He's been doing more training sessions with us, and today, god willing, he'll do the entire training session."

Midfielder Yannick Bright confirmed Messi has trained separately from the squad throughout the week, but hopes he will play with them against the Union.

"He trained with us for the first 15 minutes but he didn't do much so that's up to the coaches and trainers," Bright said.

Messi participated in the opening 15 minutes of Friday's session with the media in attendance.

The last time Miami played Philadelphia was in September 2024 - and Messi returned from a different injury in that game and scored the Goal of the Matchday.

The Herons clash with the Union Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on Apple TV in a match between the top two teams in the East heading into Matchday 6 of the season.