Inter Miami unsure if Lionel Messi will face Atlanta in crucial fixture

Lionel Messi's status is uncertain as Inter Miami head into a critical matchup against Atlanta United on Saturday night at Fort Lauderdale, Fla. It was unclear Thursday if Messi would suit up for Argentina in its friendly against Venezuela on Friday night in Miami Gardens or sit that one out in order to play for Inter Miami (17-7-8, 59 points) against Atlanta United (5-15-12, 27 points) in his club's penultimate regular-season match. Although the Philadelphia Union clinched the Supporters' Shield last week, Inter Miami still have plenty to play for Saturday as they try to draw level with Cincinnati for second place in the Eastern Conference. Each conference's top four finishers secure home-field advantage for the first playoff round. In addition to Messi, Inter Miami is likely to be short-handed with five other players — Rodrigo De Paul, Telasco Segovia, Ian Fray, Mateo Silvetti and Noah Allen — called to national team duty this week. "We will manage the best we can," Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said. "We know we are going to have some absences on Saturday, so we want the players who stayed to be as fresh and ready as possible because, obviously, we want to get three points to secure third place and put pressure on Cincinnati heading into the final game." Messi trained with his national team this week, but Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni offered little clarity on the situation while speaking Thursday. "We spoke to (Messi), as we have with all the players, and we have not decided on the lineup yet," Scaloni said. "We will make the decision after our final training. These are games for experimenting and that's what we'll do. I would like to try new alternatives." Atlanta is expected to have as many as eight players out for the same reason, including the United States' Luke Brennan and Paraguay's Miguel Almiron. Atlanta, which also has two matches remaining, is coming off back-to-back shutout losses and hasn't scored since a 1-1 draw with San Diego on Sept. 20. Atlanta is looking for its first win since blanking Nashville 1-0 on Aug. 30 and needs a win in the last two matches to avoid finishing with a franchise low for league victories in a season. "I've had struggles, always, in the first year before (in the) second year it got better, and third it got even better," first-year Atlanta coach Ronny Deila said. "That's why I love this. I want to improve things." –Field Level Media

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