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Lionel Messi will skip Inter Miami's game at Atalanta United on Saturday having not travelled with the team due to fatigue, a club source has told AFP.

The Major League Soccer clash at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium had been expected to attract a crowd of over 70,000.

Messi had missed Argentina's World Cup qualifier against Bolivia in La Paz but watched his teammates from the bench.

The star had been substituted in the final minutes of Argentina's 1-0 win over Ecuador on September 7, after scoring the winner, but there have been no reports of an injury.

He had played 11 games in 44 days for Miami before the international break.

"He is fine....obviously, we will be very cautious going forward with Leo because we have a lot of important games in a short span, and we don’t want Leo or any other player to get injured," Miami coach Gerardo 'Tata' Martino said when asked about Messi's participation in the match against Atalanta United.

It is noteworthy that Atlanta play on an artificial turf surface, but Messi had previously said he did not consider such fields to be a problem for him, and the source confirmed that had not been a factor in the decision.

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