Inter Miami remains on the brink of the precipice after losing 1-2 at Chase Stadium against Rayados de Monterrey, in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions League. ‘Tata’ Martino’s team could not count on Messi, who had a muscle injury since mid-March.
The former Barça player has already trained with his teammates, but the Argentine coach wants to be cautious with the ’10’: “It goes game by game, we understood that this was not the game. This is what will happen with Colorado and with the return in Monterrey “He’s feeling better but today we were taking too big a risk.”
Inter Miami depends excessively on Messi, because of the last five games in which the Argentine has not participated, the herons have only achieved victory in one of them. This ‘Messidependence’ was noticeable again last night, in the game against Monterrey.
However, those from Florida started ahead, thanks to a set-piece play that Avilés took advantage of, who beat Andrada, the Mexican team’s goalkeeper, in the 18th minute. The team led by David Beckham was able to increase its advantage, but Suárez could not He had his night and wasted two clear chances before halftime.
After the break, Monterrey came out with a different face, although they benefited from the expulsion for a double yellow card of David Ruíz in the 65th minute. With one more, the Mexicans dominated the match and subdued Inter Miami. Just three minutes later, from a corner kick, Busquets headed towards his own goal, forcing Callender to intervene. The goalkeeper left the ball in the small area and, with an empty goal, Meza made it 1-1.
In the 89th minute, Monterrey made it 1-2 after an error by Gómez when the ball was released. Jorge Rodríguez, with a brilliant shot into the top corner from outside the area, completed the comeback of the Mexicans, who have a great result for the return match that will be played on Wednesday of next week, where the victory has not yet been confirmed. presence of Leo Messi.
After the game there was a brawl in the locker room tunnel, according to Fernando Schwartz, a Fox Sports journalist: “In the locker room, a big fight broke out. Martino, Messi, Suárez and Alba went over to the referee to complain to him and, later, they went to by the Rayados coach for his statements prior to the clash about Messi, who also confronted Nico Sánchez (assistant coach of the Mexican team)”.
‘Tano’ Ortiz, coach of Monterrey, declared before the match: “I hope our players understand that Messi is just another player, because then comes the other thing: the referee, the framework, the people, Lionel, who perhaps is more aware today of what happens and he doesn’t play as much. Everything that surrounds Messi can lead to sporting and non-sporting decisions,” commented the Argentine coach.
For the second leg, Inter Miami must win by two goals or more to advance to the semifinals. A 2-3 or a higher result with a one-goal advantage also works, since in the Concachampions there is the away goal rule. However, a 0-1 score would leave the Herons out of the competition and a 1-2 score would take the match to extra time. What is clear is that Inter Miami only needs to win in Monterrey to advance to the next phase.
Inter Miami: Callender; Weigandt, Avilés, Freire, Alba; Ruíz, Busquets, Gómez; Gressel, Suárez and Taylor (Afonso, m. 37, replaced by Sailor, m.67).
Monterrey Stripes: Andrada; Aguirre, Guzman, Brown (Vegas, m.46), Arteaga; Romo (Cortizo, m.57), Rodriguez; Table, Channels, Gallardo (Berterame, m.57); Vazquez (Crown, m. 85).
Goals: 1-0, Avilés (m.18). 1-1, Meza (m.69). 1-2, Rodríguez (m.89)
Referee: Walter Lopez (Honduras). He showed yellow cards to Gomez (m.33), Ruiz (m.42), Alba (m.61) and Busquets (m.76) for the locals and Gallardo (m.45), Rodriguez (m.83) and Vegas ( m.90). He also dismissed Ruiz for a double yellow (m.65).
Incidents: First leg of the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup, played at the Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale (Florida, USA) before around 18,000 spectators.
