Lionel Messi MISSES OUT on the US Open Cup final for Inter Miami against Houston Dynamo after failing to recover from scar tissue injury

Lionel Messi is not in the squad for Inter Miami’s US Open Cup final against Houston Dynamo, in a huge blow to the team just before kick-off.

The Argentine World Cup winner is struggling with a scar tissue problem due to an old injury to a leg muscle. Miami left it until the very last minute to decide what role the 36-year-old will play.

But alarm bells rang for Miami fans when the team showed up at the DRV PNK Stadium for the final and Messi was nowhere to be seen. He was later seen at the stadium cheering on his team, but he was dressed in his own clothes and not Miami colors.

Messi was substituted in the 37th minute of last Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Toronto in Major League Soccer and missed the weekend’s 1-1 draw against Toronto.

And now coach Tata Martino has ruled that Messi is not ready to play at all.

Sergio Busquets has now returned to the team after the midfielder was also rested for Orlando.

Defender Jordi Alba, who followed Busquets from Barcelona to Miami to reunite with Messi, will miss the match injured.

But all the attention during the build-up was on Messi, to the point where Martino admitted to deliberately avoiding the star’s condition.

‘I have to provide information that can change the opponent’s game plan. Why should I give out that information if I can keep it to myself?’ Martino said. “I know this goes against people’s interests when it comes to buying tickets or not, but we have to put priorities as they are, and what we want is to win the game.

‘He doesn’t need surgery or anything like that. It’s just a matter of how much time the player needs to rest to play the next game.

‘If it wasn’t a final, we wouldn’t take any risks. But because it is a final, there is a chance that we will take that risk.’