Inter Miami deny Lionel Messi injury report: “He’s feeling better and better”

So Martino’s best player remains unavailable until further notice, with the specifics of his ailment still shrouded in mystery. His team are laboring through an exhaustingly busy stretch of the schedule, also without Jordi Alba, and Saturday’s result further tightens their window of possibility for postseason qualification.

Martino would only offer praise for his weary troops, however.

“We are losing players instead of recovering them. But this is related to the crazy amount of games we’re playing,” he said, hailing the “effort,” “will” and “grit” of his squad. “We have been playing many games and they are all decisive games, not only mentally but also physically. That’s why today’s result is great.

“The first half vs. Houston [in this week’s US Open Cup Final loss] was disappointing. But the second half was great. And what we did today was with dignity and despite all the problems, we are trying to win. When we started, we were in last place three months ago, and these guys were able to put us where we are today. We have great expectations.”