Julian Gressel has detailed how Lionel Messi is now feeling after picking up a new injury on Saturday for Inter Miami.
The 36-year-old attacker was on the receiving end of a nasty challenge against CF Montreal that resulted in Messi coming off to receive treatment before returning to action and completing the full 90 for Inter Miami.
Since then, though, Messi has missed training with the Herons with Inter Miami’s assistant manager also revealing that the Argentine international could be a doubt for tonight’s Florida derby against Orlando City SC.
And Gressel has now revealed how Messi felt after the game against Montreal.
Messi feeling ‘sore’ after picking up knee injury for Inter Miami
Speaking on the Player/Manager podcast, Gressel detailed that Messi was feeling sore after the game in Canada, with the Inter Miami midfielder even suggesting that the forward had a scan to see how bad the damage was.
With Inter Miami facing a tough game tonight, Messi missing the fixture would come across as a major blow for the Herons, who will want their star forward fit and firing against their Florida rivals.
Gressel said when asked how Messi was feeling after Saturday’s win against Montreal: “It was a little bit sore after the game, and since then I haven’t spoken much to him, but let’s see how he is for the game vs Orlando.
“I can imagine it was painful and it’s bruised where if you get hit knee-on-knee that structurally everything is okay, which I think it is. They got some imaging done potentially to see if it’s okay, but I’m not 100% sure on that. I saw him on the injury report as questionable, so we’ll see how he feels for the game.”
Inter Miami can’t afford to rush Messi back tonight
Whilst Messi remains a doubt for tonight’s clash against Orlando, Inter Miami know they can’t afford to rush the former PSG and FC Barcelona superstar back to action if there is a genuine problem with the forward.
We have seen many times before what happens to Inter Miami when Messi is out injured or when the Herons decide to fast-track his recovery by playing him before he’s fit enough to return to action.
And if Messi is unable to compete tonight, Inter Miami can’t afford to rush their captain back into fold, with the risk of a bigger injury being aggravated simply too risky.