Inter Miami held training sessions on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s do-or-die match against the Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field in the Leagues Cup Round of 16.
Lionel Messi is not expected to make a comeback in this match, as he continues his recovery process from his right ankle, although everything indicates that he is closer to returning.
The coach of the pink-black club, Gerardo “Tata” Martino, gave an update on his condition, although he still does not have a date for when he can return to training with the group.
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“Leo, as always, is on schedule, progressing,” said Martino. “There is still no certainty as to when he will be able to be at full strength, he is still working separately.”
The one who did train without problems was Jordi Alba, after having received a strong blow against Toronto.
“In Jordi’s case, he suffered an injury because the Toronto player stepped on him during the penalty play,” Martino said.
“He had a wound but except for the first day of training when he was out, the rest of the time he trained usually.”
The Miami team, champion of the last edition of the Leagues Cup, eliminated Toronto FC in the round of 32 in a match with many ups and downs. Now in the round of 16, they face the MLS champion.
“Columbus, I say it again, is the best team in the league, it has a defined style of play, which I like a lot,” said the Inter Miami coach.
“It is a team that subdues its rivals, even though it does not win all the matches, it is getting better each time due to individual characteristics, for a year and a half they have been doing well consistently.”
The South Florida club already defeated Columbus this season when they won 2-1 at Chase Stadium on June 19, with goals from Ian Fray and Leonardo Campana, while Juan Camilo “Cucho” Hernandez scored the winner.
But it’s different now, especially since the Crew is playing at home, has moved up to third place in MLS, and is coming off a 4-0 win over Sporting KC.
So Inter Miami will have to play to its best form to advance to the next phase.
The good news is that if they lose here they will have a break to concentrate on the league and their next match against Cincinnati on August 24. If they win, they will take a giant step towards winning the Supporters Shield as the best team of the season.
Currently, the pink-black team is first in the Eastern Conference with 53 points and if they finish like this, they will play against the team that advances in the play-in in 8th place.
There are only nine games left in the regular season and Miami has a four-point lead that could be seven if it beats Cincinnati.
However, Martino is not giving up on defending the Leagues Cup title and will field the best possible team on Tuesday, without Messi (injured) and without David Martínez (suspended).
He will probably drop Sergio Busquets to left center-back and bring in Jannick Bright as a central midfielder. Martino is unlikely to go for Sergii Kryvtsov.
So I would go out with Drake Callender, Marcelo Weigandt, Tomas Aviles, Busquets, Alba, Federico Redondo, Bright, Julian Gressel, Matias Rojas, Luis Suarez and Mario Gomez.
The Miami team will have to take good care of the attacks from Colombian Hernandez and Uruguayan Diego Rossi. A highly contested match is expected with a reserved outcome.
