Why don’t Lionel Messi and Rodrigo de Paul play for Inter Miami vs. Valley Independent?

InterMiami are confronted Valley independent on Thursday in a postponed preseason exhibition game Puerto Ricoa match that aroused great expectations among the fans on the island. However, eyebrows were raised then Lionel Messi and Rodrigo de Paul were nowhere to be seen in the Herons’ starting line-up.

Messi and By Paul will not start against Independiente del Valle due to a technical decision. Inter Miami’s head coach opted for a heavy rotation for the friendly in Puerto Rico, leaving both Argentine stars on the bench.

The decision also took into account how close the friendly match is within the team’s tight schedule. Inter Miami played their MLS opener against LAFC on Saturday, Only four days of rest remain before today’s friendly matchin addition to the travel requirements of the trip to Puerto Rico.

The team will also play its next MLS match away next Sunday, March 1 Orlando city in the Florida derby, that means there are only 72 hours between today’s friendly match and the next match. In this situation, and with Messi still not at his best after recovering from a muscle injury, Mascherano has decided to keep the star on the bench for the time being.

Still, Puerto Rican fans are eager to see Messi on the field. who will probably come on in the second half. Even when he arrived at the stadium, the Inter Miami star was warmly welcomed by the local fans, showing how important his presence in the match is.

Huge roster rotation at Inter Miami

Compared to the starting lineup in the MLS debut against LAFC, head coach Mascherano made 9 substitutionswith only Ian Fray and Yannick Bright among those who survived the cut for Thursday’s friendly. During the pre-match press conference early in the day, the Argentina boss expressed his plan to rotate the squad and give minutes to players who have seen limited action so far.

“The game gives us the opportunity to give minutes to guys who may not have seen as much actionboth during pre-season and in our last league match. We’re going to try to get everyone on the field,he said.We have to make minutes for the whole teamwhile we also have to be careful as we have a very important match against Orlando in just 72 hours,he added.