Without Messi, Mascherano's starting XI for Inter Miami vs. Cincinnati in the MLS

After numerous back-and-forths, MLS confirmed some extremely bad news for Lionel Messi and Inter Miami . Major League Soccer decided to suspend the Argentine and Jordi Alba due to their absence from the All-Star Game held on Wednesday the 23rd in Texas.

The message read: " Jordi Alba and Lionel Messi will not be available for their club's match against FC Cincinnati on Saturday, July 26, due to their absence from this week's MLS All-Star Game ." Several social media users are sharing negative reactions to the incident.

Looking at the schedule, Inter will face Cincinnati on Saturday the 26th, starting at 8:15 p.m. at home . The matchup is extremely important because the Ohio team currently leads the Western Conference. Therefore, Miami absolutely needs a win.

Javier Mascherano will present the following lineup: Rocco Ríos Novo; Marcelo Weigandt, Gonzalo Luján, Maximiliano Falcón, Noah Allen; Tadeo Allende, Federico Redondo, Sergio Busquets, Telasco Segovia; Fafa Picault and Luis Suárez .

After the news was confirmed, Jorge Más, President of Inter Miami, spoke to the media. These were his thoughts: “ It's a bad rule because it forces players to choose between an exhibition game and a regular-season match. I commend Jordi and Lionel for putting the team first .”

He added: " They received the news a few hours ago and the reaction wasn't positive; they want to play. The reaction was what was expected; they don't understand the decision ."

He closed with these words: “ Lionel is very upset, but we must come together as one, us against the world, and that will be reflected in what we are going to play in the second half of the year .”