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Inter Miami locked horns with Charlotte FC in a MLS clash on Saturday, March 14, which ended up in a goalless draw. The interesting part was that club icon Lionel Messi and midfielder Rodrigo De Paul were absent from the lineup.
Real reason behind Messi's absence
Uruguayan legend and Messi's close friend, Luis Suarez led he sided against Charlotte, but failed to secure a win. Although, Messi appeared for the Herons in the first leg of Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 clash against Nashville SC, which also ended up in a goalless draw.
Inter Miami will play the second leg against Nashville SC next Wednesday. It is being said that, because of an upcoming crucial game, the coaching staff decided to provide rest to the Argentine duo of Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul.
After securing a draw against Charlotte, Miami's assistant coach, Javier Morales, had an interaction with reporters, where revealed that the decision on Messi and Rodrigo's rest was taken on taking note of crucial upcoming games and workload management.
Inter Miami wants their key players at their best in the second leg against Nashville SC.
"These are decisions we have to make as a coaching staff. We've been playing a lot of games lately -- Wednesdays, Saturdays -- and we have a very important home game coming up, so Javier and the coaching staff thought it was the best decision. It was a collective decision," Javier Morales told reporters.
Inter Miami's underwhelming start to the season
Inter Miami kicked off the season on a bit of a negative side, as they managed to secure only two wins in their first five games. In the ongoing MLS season, club skipper Lionel Mess managed to score three goals in three games.
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