Mascherano breaks silence after rift rumours with Lionel Messi rock social media. Here's what exactly they spoke about

Javier Mascherano, the Inter Miami manager, has addressed rumours about a possible rift with the captain and superstar of the team, Lionel Messi.

The former Argentina skipper has shut down claims that he and Messi have fallen out, and had labelled such speculations as "nonsense" before their match against New England Revolution.

Mascherano and Messi are longtime teammates, having spent time together at both Barcelona and in the Argentina national team.

Miami got thrashed 5-3 by Chicago Fire on Tuesday evening, and it was during the match that cameras captured what had appeared to be an intense exchange between the manager and captain of the Herons. Miami recent form (one loss and one draw) has also added fuel to fire.

Mascherano has now rubbished the rumours, saying, as per Sports Illustrated, “There’s no problem with Leo...It came out in the press that he was challenging me, which is really nonsense.”

What did the coach-captain duo talk about?

Mascherano went on to specify that he was discussing tactics with the World Cup winning Argentina captain.

“We were talking about Chicago’s low block. If you look at the game, after their first two goals, they played a very low block, and there was little space to find between the lines,” he said as per the publication, further adding, “It was a space problem, because they had dropped back very well, and it was very difficult to find space between the lines. It was a problem that I saw and that we tried to talk about in the locker room.”

MLS playoffs

Inter Miami were able to secure a spot in the MLS playoffs after defeating New York City FC with a 4-0 scoreline on Wednesday. The teams that have qualified for the MLS playoffs from the Eastern Conference are: Charlotte FC, Chicago Fire FC, FC Cincinnati, Columbus Crew, Inter Miami CF, Nashville SC, New York City FC, Orlando City, and Philadelphia Union.

Five teams have qualified for the playoffs so far from the Western Conference. These include LAFC

Minnesota United FC, San Diego FC, Seattle Sounders FC, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC