Inter Miami should ‘get used to’ playing without Lionel Messi, who will miss at least 3 games: Martino

Inter Miami star Lionel Messi will miss “at least” three games with the club this season while playing for Argentina’s national team, coach Tata Martino said after Saturday’s win over the New York Red Bulls.

Miami beat the Red Bulls 2-0, with Messi and Sergio Busquets starting on the bench amid fixture congestion ahead of their MLS regular-season debuts. Messi made his MLS debut in the 60th minute, replacing Leonardo Campana. He then scored in the 89th minute to put the game away.

“We put a lot of value in this win because (playing with a rotation) is something we need to get used to because Leo is going to join his national team,” Martino said. “He’ll miss at least three games this year and next year it will be the same, and we need to understand that when he’s not here the team still needs to provide results.”

Messi made his debut for Miami on July 21, and prior to Saturday’s win, he had played 390 minutes across four matches over the last two weeks.

Miami’s playoff picture

Inter Miami is in a dead sprint to try to make the playoffs and, sometimes, they won’t have Messi. Saturday’s win, and Miami’s performance before Messi and Busquets were subbed on, was key because every point is crucial. Entering Saturday, Miami sat at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, 14 points below the playoff line with 12 games left.

The win began the team’s ascent out of the bottom, overtaking Toronto FC. Miami is 11 points below the playoff line with 11 matches left. It won’t be the last time they’re without Messi and likely Busquets as well.

Jordi Alba, who started, will need to be rotated at some point too. Picking up points in the process is not just a bonus, but absolutely vital to their playoff chase. Miami also rotated DeAndre Yedlin, Sergii Kryvtsov and Josef Martinez. Their squad is deeper than many realize, thanks to an overlooked portion of the summer that brought Messi, Busquets and Alba. Behind those three legends, Miami spent about $15 million in transfer fees to sign highly-rated South American youth internationals Tomas Aviles, Facundo Farias and Diego Gomez.

Gomez scored the opening goal against RBNY; Aviles, the most expensive center back in MLS history, played a key role in the clean sheet; Farias looked the most dangerous attacking outlet until Messi came on. If Miami is to make the playoffs, they’ll need the strength of the squad for when Messi isn’t available. — Bogert

What’s next for Messi?

Messi’s upcoming schedule includes MLS games against Nashville and LAFC on August 30 and September 3, as well as a pair of World Cup qualifiers with Argentina versus Ecuador (September 9) and against Bolivia (September 12). Miami then has matches against Atlanta United (September 16), Toronto FC (September 20) and Orlando City (September 24) before the U.S. Open Cup final against Houston Dynamo on September 27.

Required reading

(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)