Lionel Messi is free to face the New England Revolution today, Sunday, in Major League Soccer, even after collecting his fifth yellow card of the season.
The 39-year-old Argentine picked up the booking in the 42nd minute of Inter Miami's 2-2 draw with Cincinnati on Wednesday at the Nou. He looked baffled by the decision, going to speak to the referee after a clash with Cincinnati's Samuel Gidi.
That fifth card of the regular season should, in theory, have triggered a one-match ban. Instead, Miami's captain stays available thanks to MLS's "good conduct" rule, under which a player loses one yellow from his running total if he goes five consecutive league games without being booked.
Messi was cautioned in rounds 8, 11, 20, 31 and 33, and the gaps between some of those bookings proved long enough to apply the rule. Two cards duly dropped from his effective tally, according to British newspaper "The Sun".
All five cards still sit on his disciplinary record, but they don't all count towards the total that brings a suspension. That leaves his working tally at just three, so he can play in Inter Miami's penultimate game of the regular season.
