The Argentine has no real reason to play on Saturday, but the fact that he is willing to do so speaks volumes

Realistically, there's no good reason for Lionel Messi to be on the field in Saturday's Inter Miami season finale against Charlotte FC. It's one of the few games in the forward's career that really won't carry any meaning, at least for his team. Inter Miami cannot make the playoffs, no matter the result. Their season ends Saturday, win, lose or draw.

Despite that, Messi himself seems to see some good reason to be involved at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night. He said as much while on international duty with Argentina. He intends to play, he said, even if his side can't change their fate.

Call it pride, call it competitiveness, call it a sense of duty… call it whatever, but Messi opting to, at the very least, be there says something about him. The easy move would be to sit this one out, spend some time with family, maybe rehab ahead of a return to Argentina duty this month.

Messi, though, doesn't see it that way, and that'll mean something to Inter Miami, and to Charlotte FC as well.

GettyThe situation

For Miami, the situation is simple: no result will be good enough. With their losses to the Chicago Fire and FC Cincinnati earlier this month, their hopes of a miracle run came crashing down.

At one point, there was reason to believe Miami may have had a shot. They were running through MLS, with Messi leading the charge. However, after Messi suffered an injury that kept him out of several key matches, Miami were toast as the club struggled to cope without their star.

Because of that, they'll watch the playoffs from home. Charlotte FC, though, have plenty to play for.

In order to have a chance, Charlotte FC will need to win on Saturday and hope for help elsewhere. They'll need some combination of CF Montreal, the New York Red Bulls and the Chicago Fire to slip up in order for them to book a postseason spot. That's because the second-year club failed to defeat Miami on Wednesday night, settling for just one point and leaving it all for Decision Day as a result.

Charlotte, of course, will have mixed feelings about Messi potentially playing. On one hand, it'll surely pack the stadium but, on the other, their chances of making the postseason will be slashed if they have to go toe-to-toe with the legendary Argentine.

AdvertisementGettyMessi speaks out

Despite his injury issues, Messi was deemed fit enough to play against FC CIncinnati in a must-win game just before the international break. It wasn't enough. Messi looked nowhere near 100 percent as Miami fell, 1-0, to the Supporters' Shield winners.

Messi then jetted off to Argentina for World Cup qualifiers, playing 37 minutes against Paraguay before scoring twice against Peru. That Peru match showed that Messi was, at the very least, somewhat fit, definitely more so than he was in the early weeks of October.

On Wednesday, just 24 hours after scoring against Peru, he was in the stadium for Inter Miami's draw with Charlotte FC. And his presence reflected what he'd said earlier in the week: that he has every intention of playing that final game of the MLS season, playoffs or not.

“I will train, I will play our upcoming match [against Charlotte] and I will try to get [to the national team] in the best possible way for November," Messi said. "After that, I will enjoy the holidays in Argentina. It’s the first time that I am going to have more days off in December, with the holidays, with peace of mind, with my people. In January, I will return again to do preseason. Start from scratch and prepare as best as possible as always.”

Getty ImagesMartino responds

As expected, after Wednesday's match, Inter Miami boss Gerardo 'Tata' Martino was asked about Messi's comments. The ex-Barcelona manager's response wasn't exactly confirmation, but he certainly didn't rule Messi out, either.

“I saw Leo’s interview, saw what he said, but I just had time to say hello to him [Wednesday] and we have not had time to talk,” Martino said. “The most important thing is the 90 minutes he played [for Argentina], that he felt well and played confidently and not worried about his injury.

"Sometimes your head plays games with you after injuries. Thursday we will see if he is also ready to play Saturday.”

Getty ImagesThe risks

Playing Messi on Saturday is risky, to say the least.

To begin with, he'll be on short rest after only recently flying back from two games in quick succession down in South America. It's a grueling schedule, for sure, especially for someone Messi's age and with as many miles in his legs as the Argentine has.

You can also add in the fact that Messi has only recently recovered from injury. That injury appeared to be minor when it was originally suffered during the September international break, and it appeared to be aggravated even further when Messi was rushed back against Toronto FC just a few days later.

And, finally, the turf. Charlotte FC's field isn't natural grass, but rather artificial turf. Historically, several of MLS' biggest stars have opted not to play on turf due to the risks that come with it, particularly for older players. Messi himself denied reports that he could sit out turf games, to be fair, but that doesn't lower the risk that comes with it.

So, to put it all together, you have a recently-recovered player playing on turf on short rest with absolutely nothing to gain playoff-wise? It seems crazy, but, to Messi, maybe it isn't.