By starting Messi against Toronto FC, Mascherano takes a huge risk | OneFootball

Four days removed from Leg 1 of the Concacaf Champions League quarterfinal played in Los Angeles, and three days from playing the return leg at home, Javier Mascherano opted to play the 37-year-old Lionel Messi for all 90 minutes of Sunday's 1-1 draw against Toronto FC.

Yes, Messi was the only Miami player who scored. But by now, the track record surely shows that pushing him the distance again was a risky move for the big picture.

Messi has already missed two MLS games and one Concacaf match this season on account of muscle fatigue, and was absent from 15 MLS regular season games last year due to a combination of injuries and international absences.

From all appearances, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner is managing some sort of chronic leg muscle issue that recurs at intervals, typically after an intense portion of the schedule.

And yet, Mascherano explained postgame, he arrived at his decision by speaking with Messi himself about the decision, which led to his second of what could be three consecutive 90-minute shifts. (Facing a 1-0 aggregate decifict against LAFC, it's hard to imagine Messi playing anything less than the full 90 if he's healthy on Wednesday night.)

Mascherano's rationale

Mascherano reasoned that his FC Barcelona alumni quartet of Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets were top players used to the mental demands of every three to four days. (Alba and Busquets also played 90 minutes, while Suarez started and played 69. Busquets is suspended for Wednesday's game). And Mascherano opted instead to rotate at positions outside that foursome.

But of those four, only Messi has shown a tendency for consistent availability issues that appear related to overuse. It's something former Atlanta United midfielder turned MLS Wrap-Up analyst Dax McCarty echoed in his remarks later Sunday.

"I just still think if Inter Miami wants to win every competition they're in, you give yourself a better chance to beat LAFC with Lionel Messi coming off after 60 minutes (against Toronto) and getting fresh legs on the field," McCarty said. "Listen, it's a tough balance to follow, but against a Toronto FC team I think you should beat comfortably, I thought Messi should have come off."

And perhaps that's the compounding issue, that for all Miami's early-season success in 2025, they have only kept two clean sheets in eight games against MLS opposition, and therefore have been in a lot of close games.

That's one of the dangers of playing Messi from the start, rather than as a halftime substitute. If the match materializes differently than planned, it becomes very difficult to make the decision to pull your best player, no matter how much it's in your long-term best interest.