Lionel Messi and the rest of Inter Miami's former FC Barcelona quartet are all out of the lineup for Sunday's league match against FC Dallas as Javier Mascherano looks toward Leg 2 of the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal on Wednesday night.
Messi, Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba were all out of the matchday squad, while Sergio Busquets was to begin Sunday's contest on the bench.
Miami was taking on Dallas less than 72 hours after their 2-0 defeat at Vancouver in Leg 1. None of the quartet was listed on the MLS Player Status Report for Matchday 10, suggesting all four omissions are due to load management rather than any significant injuries.
Messi will be missing competitive minutes for the first time since March 29, when he came on as a second-half substitute in a 2-1 victory at home against the Philadelphia Union, following his recovery from a minor adductor issue sustained in a 2-1 win at Atlanta United two weeks prior.
Vancouver's Sorensen also rotates
Vancouver Whitecaps manager Jesper Sorensen also made eight changes to his starting XI in Sunday's earlier match at Minnesota United, with only Daniel Rios, Ranko Veselinovic and goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka starting both matches.
Canadian international Jayden Nelson made his first start in four weeks. He came on for the final minutes of Thursday's win in his first action since suffering a hamstring injury in late March and contributed the assist on Sebastian Berhalter's all-important second goal.
Berhalter, Brian White and Pedro Vite, the other Whitecaps players who had goal contributions in the game, all began Sunday's contest on the bench.
Miami needs to win by three goals to advance after 90 minutes Wednesday to its second continental final, after winning the 2023 Leagues Cup.
A 2-0 Miami win would send the match to extra time and potentially penalties. Any Vancouver result that includes a Whitecaps goal and a margin of -2 or less would send Sorensen's side through to its first continental championship match. That's because Vancouver would have the away goals tiebreak (though that would not apply in extra time.)