Lionel Messi sat out Inter Miami’s Sunday match against Montreal, and the team’s stated reason was simple: “rest.”
The rationale is also simple: Messi played Thursday, and will play again Wednesday in the most significant of Miami’s four competitions, the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Each of its 34 MLS regular-season games, on the other hand, is relatively insignificant. Inter needs to win around only 13 of them to reach the playoffs. (Charlotte qualified for last year’s playoffs with 10 wins.)
Miami, the most talented team in MLS history, shouldn’t have trouble hitting that laughably low benchmark.