Javier Mascherano on Lionel Messi: He wants to play every game

Messi has returned to action from an injury and recorded a goal and an assist.

After coming off the bench to assist Inter Miami defeat the LA Galaxy, Javier Mascherano stated that Lionel Messi “wants to play every game” but that he was not entirely at ease.

Messi was healthy enough to play the second half of Miami’s 3-1 triumph over the Galaxy, despite missing the team’s 4-1 MLS loss to Orlando City the previous weekend due to a minor hamstring injury.

He made a decisive impact, scoring in the 84th minute to give Miami the lead again after Jordi Alba’s first goal had been cancelled out by Joseph Paintsil. He then set up Luis Suarez for another late strike with a fantastic backheel assist.

With 19 goals this season in MLS, Lionel Messi leads the scoring lists with 875 goals in his career, making him the youngest player to accomplish the record.

Javier Mascherano issues an update on Lionel Messi’s fitness

“The idea was to give him 45 minutes so he could start finding sensations,” Mascherano said.

“Clearly, he wasn’t 100% comfortable, but as the minutes went on, he loosened up more. The important thing is he finished the game, and now we’ll see how he feels.”

“He wants to play every single game. You have to understand why Leo is Leo. He always wants to be on the pitch. He’s happy there.”

“Sometimes we try to explain to him that we have to go slowly, but when he feels good, he knows himself like no one.”

“In the end, we tried to give him some minutes today to start having good feelings for Wednesday.”

Miami are presently seven points below leaders FC Cincinnati in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with 45 points.

Mascherano has his sights set on the top spot once more if the Herons can end their campaign convincingly. Last season, they broke the previous record and won the Supporters’ Shield.

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