Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba leave the Inter Miami match due to injury

Messi and Alba, who started the match after not making the trip for Saturday’s 5-2 loss to Atlanta United, did not participate in any particularly heavy challenges or visibly limp but were clearly in some sort of physical discomfort.

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Both players went straight to the bench instead of the locker room after leaving the field, and Miami’s Facundo Farias scored a goal shortly after to give the home team a 1-0 lead in the first half. Robert Taylor then scored two stunning goals either side of Benjamin Cremaci’s strike in the second half to secure the three points for Gerardo Martino’s side.

Messi looked lively early and had a golden opportunity in the 23rd minute when he shot a powerful shot over the crossbar from close range. However, after 15 minutes, it was clear that the Argentine was having a physical problem, and he was replaced by Taylor.

Alba had left just four minutes before Messi. Toronto also made two substitutions before the Miami pair left the game, with another former Barcelona youth player – Victor Vazquez – having to come off in the 12th minute. His replacement, Brandon Servania, was helped out just 14 minutes later with an apparent knee injury.

Before coming off, Messi spent a few minutes dealing with what appeared to be a leg problem. He would stretch during the game, then eventually took off the captain’s armband and simply waited for play to stop so he could leave – not even waiting to get off the field before unbuttoning his boots, lowering his socks and removing his shin pads.

Messi missed his last two matches – one for the club and the other for the national team – in recent days, after missing Argentina’s World Cup qualifier win over Bolivia on September 12, and the loss to Atalanta on Saturday.

Fatigue was mentioned in both cases, and Messi was not made available for comment.

Wednesday’s match was the first of six matches for Inter Miami in 17 days. The team will next play Orlando City on Sunday, then host Houston Dynamo FC in the US Open Cup final on September 27. This will be followed by three more MLS matches in short order: against New York City FC on September 30. , at Chicago Fire FC on October 4, and hosting FC Cincinnati on October 7.

With this result, Miami is five points behind DC United, which tied 1-1 with Cincinnati on Wednesday, to qualify for the final playoffs in the Eastern Conference, with two postponed matches.

Messi entered Wednesday after participating in 11 matches with Miami, most of them in the League Cup and the US Open Cup. He had 11 goals and five assists in his first 11 games, including one goal and two assists in three MLS games.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.