MLS: Lionel Messi returns to squad as Inter Miami hits road to face Atlanta United

Miami coach Tata Martino confirmed Messi will be with the team on a two-match road trip that begins at Atlanta and continues at New York City FC on Saturday.

FILE PHOTO: Inter Miami’s Argentine forward Lionel Messi (c) shoots. | Photo Credit: AFP

Lionel Messi will travel with Inter Miami for a road match against Atlanta United on Wednesday night, but the Herons will be short-handed when it tries to move closer to securing the 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield.

Miami coach Tata Martino confirmed Messi will be with the team on a two-match road trip that begins at Atlanta and continues at New York City FC on Saturday. The plan comes after Messi played his first match in roughly two months during Saturday’s 3-1 home win over Philadelphia.

However, Messi’s former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets will serve a yellow-card accumulation suspension Wednesday. Defender David Martinez departed Saturday’s victory early with a right adductor strain, and Atlanta’s artificial surface could convince Martino to limit the minutes of Messi, Luis Suarez and other veterans.

As Messi pointed out, if Miami (19-4-5, 62 points) did field a weakened team on Wednesday, it wouldn’t be anything new.

“The truth is that throughout the year, we had a lot of bad luck with injuries,” Messi said in Spanish after his first match following an ankle ligament injury. “We were never at full strength. Due to one thing or another, we were always missing players.

“But the team always pushed forward. Today, we are in first place with a big lead, and deservedly so. Hopefully, we can finish at the top for what it means and for what’s to come after as well.”

Miami leads the Los Angeles Galaxy by seven points in the Supporters’ Shield race and has a match in hand, and the Herons hold a 10-point Eastern Conference advantage on FC Cincinnati.

Meanwhile, Atlanta (8-13-7, 31 points) is in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and is fighting for its playoff life after a 2-0 upset defeat to 14th-place Nashville SC on Saturday. The loss ruined a bid for the club’s first back-to-back wins since mid-March.

Interim coach Rob Valentino’s squad begins Wednesday two points beneath the playoff line, with a match in hand on ninth-place D.C. United.

“I’m at a loss for words for that tonight,” Valentino said of the Nashville performance. “I apologize to the people that watched that, and that won’t be happening again. But we have to move on. I have no choice there.”

Atlanta has scored one total goal in its last three MLS matches, and the club’s three active goal-scoring leaders -- Saba Lobjanidze, Daniel Rios and Jamal Thiare -- are scoreless in the last four across all competitions.