Lionel Messi wasn't in the starting lineup, Inter Miami vs. New England, Revolution takes an early lead

Lionel Messi was not in the starting lineup for Saturday's regular season finale as Inter Miami looks to break the MLS points record with a home win against New England. The Revolution stunned the Chase Stadium crowd with a second-minute goal from Luca Langoni that gave the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Langoni lined up behind Miami center David Martinez, who may have been a little rusty as he returned to the lineup after missing several games with a groin injury.

Messi is expected to come off the bench as coach Tata Martino wanted to give him some rest following his return from the national team. Messi scored a hat-trick and two assists against Bolivia and Martino said he wanted to ensure he was in top form when the playoffs began on October 25.

Midfielder Diego Gomez was also on the bench after playing for Paraguay during the FIFA break. Otherwise, the remaining regular starters were in the squad. Drake Callender started as a goalkeeper; Chelo Weigandt, Jordi Alba, Martinez and Tomas Aviles started in defense; Yannick Bright, Sergio Busquets, Julian Gressel, Robert Taylor and Benja Cremaschi were the midfielders; and Luis Suarez started as a striker.

In addition to Messi and Gomez, Leo Campana, Ian Fray, Sergiy Kryvtsov, Noah Allen, Franco Negri, Lawson Sunderland and Cole Jensen came off the bench.

Inter Miami have already secured the Supporters' Shield and first place in the playoffs and were looking to add the points record to their list of achievements. Entering the game, Miami had 71 points, two points less than record holder New England, which set the record with 73 points in 2021.

While that would be a bonus to an already successful season, it was not worth risking injuries to players who cut short their national team duty, Martino said ahead of the game.

“It's an important game because we've been setting goals all season and this was one that wasn't in our plans from the start, but now that it's within reach we'll try to achieve it said Martino. “But of course our main focus is next Friday (the start of the playoffs). With this in mind, we will analyze how much we want to play with the players who have just returned from their national teams, including Leo (Messi).”

The game will be billed as a 'Fan Appreciation Night' and there will be a 'Supporters' Shield' ceremony on the pitch immediately after the game, with speeches from club managers and the opportunity for fans to take photos of the team with the award.

New England, meanwhile, was determined to keep the record.

“We’re going to be part of history one way or another,” Revolution coach Caleb Porter said Tuesday. “We will be part of their history and achieve the highest number of points in a season, or we will prevent that, which is our goal.” Of course it won't be easy, but we owe it to the 2021 team that set this record “To do everything possible not to break this record.”

New England (9-20-4) has the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference and is out of playoff contention. The Revolution has just one win in its last nine games and is coming off a 4-0 loss to reigning MLS champion Columbus Crew.

The starters of the revolution: Aljaz Ivacic, Dave Romney, Xavier Arreaga, William Sands, Brandon Bye, Dylan Borrero, Matt Polster, Alhassan Yusuf, Giacomo Vrioni, Esmir Bajraktarevic, Luca Langoni.