Messi was on the game roster for Miami’s home league game against Charlotte FC on Sunday but remained on the bench. The plan was for him to play some minutes, but a red card to goalkeeper Oscar Ustari left the team down a man from the 38-minute mark, and the coaching staff felt that was not the ideal situation for Messi to return to action.

Fans lined up outside of Independence Park more than two hours before Inter Miami's Concacaf Champions Cup round of 16 clash with Cavalier SC hoping to catch a glimpse of Lionel Messi during a 2-0 victory (4-0 on aggregate) for Miami to move on to the quarterfinals where they'll face Los Angeles FC.