Due to his late recovery from injury, Lionel Messi was not included in Inter Miami’s squad for their Champions Cup match against Monterrey.

In the first leg of their matchup in the round of eight, Miami took on the Mexican team at DRV PNK Stadium. Unfortunately, they lost 2-1 in the end due to David Ruiz’s second-half red card.

Lionel Messi was left out of Inter Miami’s Champions Cup quarterfinal against Monterrey

Messi raised hope of a potential return when he was seen in practice on Tuesday morning

The 36-year-old has not featured for Miami since limping out of last month’s win over Nashville

Messi did not make the 19-man team for Wednesday’s first leg, even though he had returned to practice on Tuesday. Martino determined that there was too much risk involved in starting him too soon.

Since the middle of March, when he hobbled out of Miami’s Round of 16 victory over Nashville SC, the 36-year-old has not appeared for the squad.

Robert Taylor and Julian Gressell again attacked on Luis Suarez’s left side in his absence, as Martino kept his starting lineup from the weekend’s 1-1 draw at New York City.

A three-man midfield consisting of Diego Gomez, David Ruiz, and Sergio Busquets was backed up by Jordi Alba, Nicolas Freire, Tomas Aviles, and Marcelo Weigandt in defense.

After Ruiz was sent off for slapping Maximiliano Meza, the visitors scored twice in the last 20 minutes at DRV PNK Stadium, led by a goal from Argentine attacker Jorge Rodriguez in the 89th minute.

Since suffering a hamstring injury last month, Messi has missed three games for Miami; during that time, his club has only scored four points out of nine.

Inter was beaten 4-0 by the New York Red Bulls following a 3-1 victory away at D.C. United, and on Saturday they were held to a 1-1 draw at home against NYCFC.

Messi suffered an injury versus Nashville during the MLS season, having only participated in the first three games.

That came after a protracted preseason tour marred by controversy due to his underwhelming playing time.