Messi did not make much of an impact on the field, and both of his free kick attempts, which were within shot range, went harmlessly wide.

“I could see that he wasn’t getting enough game time,” said Gerardo Martino, head coach of Miami.

He also said, “The injury is fine, he doesn’t have any problems. But (his performance) made sense because he hasn’t played much lately, and it’s possible that he’s not in the right rhythm, which is also why he only played 32 or 33 minutes.”

Because of other teams’ bad luck, Messi’s team ended up near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, seven points behind the last playoff spot with only two games left. Messi came on as a replacement in the 55th minute after being hurt, but Alvaro Barreal scored for Cincinnati, who now has the best record in the playoffs and is the top seed.

Following a 1-0 loss at home to FC Cincinnati on Saturday, Lionel Messi’s first season in Major League Soccer will not have a Hollywood finish. His team, Inter Miami, was eliminated from the playoffs.

The English boss of DC United, former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney, quit right away by “mutual agreement” after the team missed the playoffs as well.

Messi came on as a replacement in the 55th minute after being hurt, but Alvaro Barreal scored for Cincinnati, who now has the best record in the playoffs and is the top seed.

Messi had only played 37 minutes for his club since September 3. He had come back from Argentina’s international duty last month hurt and hadn’t played since.

Without him, Miami had a hard time. They paid the price for their successful run to the League Cup title in August, when Messi lit up the event and won his first trophy with the team since July.

Miami had their second straight loss on Saturday, after being thrashed 4-1 at Chicago on Wednesday. Martino’s team has only won one of their last six MLS games.

Last week, they only had one win, a 4-0 win over the worst team in the league, Toronto. Messi came off in the first half of that game.

After winning the League Cup in Nashville on August 19, there was talk that Miami could win two more trophies this season. But without Messi, they lost the US Open Cup final to Houston and then fell out of the league playoff picture.

Martino, who took over just before Messi arrived, said, “To be honest, I thought the season would be the exact opposite of what happened.”

“My hopes were to put the team together, shape it football-wise, not go too far in the Leagues Cup, do well in the Cup (US Open Cup), and make the playoffs, but it turned out the exact opposite, which is what happens when a coach thinks something,” he said.

“Out of three possible tournaments, we’ve only won one. This is very important for us because there are 28 other teams in the league.” Houston, we won, and whoever wins the league will be the third winner. The other 25 teams will not have won. “That’s why we’re happy,” he said.

The last two games for Miami are both against Charlotte. The last one is on the road on October 21. There is still no word on whether Messi will play in the upcoming World Cup qualifications for Argentina.