Playing soccer with your friends is really, really fun, so you can understand why Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets have been enjoying the Inter Miami experience. You’ve seen the photos of the ex-Barcelona stars together; laughing, smiling, having a good time, and rightfully so. These four created so many memories together and, now in the twilight of their careers, they have the opportunity to create a few more.
Wednesday night was not one of those fun, happy memories, though. Inter Miami’s trip to Monterrey wasn’t one full of smiles and laughs. It was embarrassing in ways that Messi and co. aren’t particularly used to. Barcelona rarely gets outclassed the way Inter Miami was on Wednesday, and Messi and friends rarely have been humbled in the way they were in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
It was a harsh reminder that these matches aren’t all fun and games. By the end, Inter Miami’s stars seemed to have learned that, having lost their heads throughout the 3-1 drubbing
Throughly beaten
There was reason for hope heading into Wednesday’s second leg. Having narrowly lost 2-1 in the first, Miami had Messi back from injury. David Ruiz’s red card doomed them in that opening leg, one played without the Argentine. But with Messi back in the XI, Monterrey would have their hands full.
It didn’t go that way. Not even close, as Rayados never had to sweat. An early gaffe from Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender allowed the hosts to increase their lead, and they never looked back. By the 64th minute, it was 3-0 and the atmosphere had turned into a party. Fans were chanting “Ronaldo” at Miami’s players, no doubt adding even more frustration by celebrating Messi’s biggest rival.
The visitors got a consolation goal late, but that didn’t matter much; the damage had already been done. Some were resigned to the defeat, others fought back, but Inter Miami’s exit was confirmed early and often by a ruthless Rayados side.
In many ways, Messi’s supporting cast let him down. Callender’s early mishap was a disaster, Nicolas Freire was spun around for the second goal, and Tomas Aviles’ horrible pass directly led to Monterrey’s third. On nights like this, Miami needed more out of their role players. The ex-Barcelona gang, though, wasn’t without blame themselves.
Quiet night for Messi
Messi did get his assist, as he teed up Diego Gomez late on with a fantastic free-kick, It was pinpoint, vintage Messi in a way. You can’t place balls much better than that.
It didn’t matter, though… not even in the slightest. The game was long gone, and Messi had been kept quiet during the most important moments of it.
By the end, Messi had just three shots, and completed 79 percent of his passes, outdone several times by terrible field conditions. He created just one chance, the Gomez goal, and was fouled just once as Monterrey had no problem herding the GOAT into safe positions.
With so much focus on Messi, Inter Miami’s players often find ways to take advantage. Even on his off days, the Argentine can pull defenses apart, allowing his teammates to pounce. In Mexico, though, It never felt like that happened or was going to happen.
“It’s a team sport,” Julian Gressel said after the game. “It’s not just Leo. It’s all of us. We came here and played against a really good team, and ultimately we couldn’t get it done.”
Suarez walks the line
If you’ve followed Suarez’s career, meanwhile, you know that he’s prone to… we’ll call it bursts of anger. Famous for his goals, Suarez is also infamous for his temper, which he has lost several times in the most important moments.
Throughout Wednesday’s match, you could see the temperature rising within Suarez, as he was clearly frustrated with everything going on. Save for one finish where he was miles offside, Monterrey had handled him.
The Uruguayan was lucky not to be punished for one incident that saw him grab the arm of defender Victor Guzman. After a battle between the two, Suarez clearly pinned Guzman’s arm to his body and spun in a move that could have seriously hurt the defender. Fortunately for both players, in a sense, nothing came of it.
Suarez was bad-tempered throughout, as he chirped at opponents and referees. He got his yellow, and promptly yelled something right back at the official. He never fully lost his head, unlike one of his ex-Barcelona teammates.
Alba loses his cool
Prior to Wednesday, Jordi Alba had been sent off just four times in his illustrious career. All four came in La Liga in a career that encompassed 386 matches and over 30,000 minutes.
In a four-minute span in Monterrey, though, Alba was sent for an early shower for just the fifth time in his career, and he certainly earned it. Just moments after committing a frustration foul to earn his first yellow, Alba stamped on the foot of Monterrey’s Jesus Gallardo. Yellow number two came almost immediately, and Alba yelling back at the official, unsurprisingly, didn’t help his case.
The left-back has largely been fantastic for Inter Miami since joining last summer, providing solidity to a defense that is so often Inter Miami’s weak point. On Wednesday, he simply had a bad night.
Martino’s refusal to make subs
The players on the field were thoroughly outplayed and will, rightfully, take the blame. They gave the ball away in bad situations, lost their cool in key moments and failed to produce in a huge match for this club.
Head coach Tata Martino is also facing his share of criticism, too. Despite everything that had gone wrong, Martino didn’t make a single substitution in Wednesday’s defeat. He made no effort to change things up stylistically or tactically, and when Alba was sent off, there was no reaction.
That’s frustrating enough given the scoreline; it’s even worse when your star players are in their late 30s running around in a now-meaningless game on a bad pitch.
“All the players we had on the bench were young players, we were not in a situation to use them, I did not want to throw them into adverse conditions, so I felt it was best to finish the game with the players who started,” Martino said in response.
In one sense, he is right. Injuries have depleted this Miami roster, leaving him with a bunch of young players as backups. They likely would not have fared well in this match.
But Martino’s biggest task, his No.1 priority, is protecting Messi. He’s the club’s golden goose. Fresh off injury, he went 90 minutes in a game that was all but over midway through the second half. If Messi had gotten hurt, that would have been squarely on Martino.
Fortunately, he didn’t, but Martino’s risk could very well have been the end of Miami’s season as we know it.
Not a vacation
All of this served as a harsh reminder to everyone involved at Inter Miami. They’ve learned this lesson a few times before, but never quite this bad. There was always some sort of reason for their shortcomings. Wednesday night had no excuse.
This isn’t a vacation; this isn’t fun and games; this isn’t a kickabout with friends or a chance to reflect on old times. This is a challenge, and a very big one. If Inter Miami wants to live up to expectations, it’s going to be very, very difficult.
Despite this defeat, those expectations remain. The CONCACAF Champions Cup is over, and it ended with a thud. But there are more trophies on offer this season, with the big one at the very end: MLS Cup. Getting there is a long grind, and it’s only just beginning.
There will be more setbacks along the way. There will be bad losses and injuries and moments of frustration. MLS seasons are long, and there are ebbs and flows for all teams, even ones with Messi in them.
MLS may not be up to the level of Barcelona, but this Inter Miami team sure isn’t either. This challenge, though, is unique, and it’ll be as hard as anything Messi, Suarez, Busquets and Alba ever faced together during their days in Spain.
