Yahoo Sports Expect spicy rematch after Messi, Inter Miami teammates clash with Monterrey coach
Inter Miami faced its toughest test of the year without Lionel Messi on Wednesday night, and for 68 minutes looked the better team, but went down a man and paid the price, losing 2-1 in the Champions Cup quarterfinal home leg against Mexican power Monterrey.
Both of Monterrey’s goals came after Miami midfielder David Ruiz was ejected with a second yellow card after an ill-advised foul in the 65th minute.
The second and deciding leg of the series next Wednesday at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey figures to be a spicy rematch after Messi and a few of his teammates reportedly exchanged heated words with Monterrey coach Fernando “Tano” Ortiz following Wednesday night’s game in Fort Lauderdale.
According to Mexican broadcaster Fernando Schwartz, who was working with rights holder Fox Sports, Messi and a few teammates confronted Ortiz in the tunnel to complain about controversial pregame comments he made.
Ortiz had been quoted saying that the referees might favor Inter Miami because of Messi, that soccer is a business and for that reason Messi’s team would have an advantage from the officials. As it turned out, it was Miami that had one player red-carded and six receive yellow cards. Three Monterrey players got yellow cards.
Maximiliano Meza scored the equalizer for the Mexican visitors in the 69th minute and Jorge Rodriguez got the game winner in the 89th minute after Miami midfielder Diego Gomez made a sloppy pass that got intercepted just outside the box.
Messi was in street clothes for the highly publicized matchup, which was front page news all over Mexico. Mexican T.V. and radio announcers provided live coverage all day in the leadup to the game at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. A sizable contingent of fans in blue and white striped jerseys were on hand to root on Los Rayados (The Striped Ones). When Monterrey scored its second goal, fans chanted: “Messi Tuvo Miedo!” (Messi Was Scared!)
It was the fourth game in a row Messi missed since suffering a hamstring strain in the previous Champions Cup round against Nashville on March 13. He also missed the March 10 game against CF Montreal, as coach Tata Martino rested a few key starters for that game.
Martino had said Tuesday that Messi would be a game-day decision for the Monterrey game. The team is undefeated in five games with him this year and has lost three of four without him.
“We had said Leo will be day to day, and he was not ready to play today, it would have been too much of a risk,” Martino said after the game. “He is feeling better each day, and we will re-evaluate for the Colorado game (on Saturday) and the return leg against Monterrey next week (Wednesday).”
The teams meet again in Monterrey on April 10 at 10:30 p.m. for the second leg of the series, which is decided by aggregate score. If the teams are tied after the two games, the first tiebreaker is away goals. Miami would need to score at least three goals in a victory to win outright and advance. If they score two goals in a victory, it goes to extra time followed by a penalty shootout. If they score one goal in a victory, or lose, they are eliminated.
The winner of this round advances to the semifinal and will play the winner of Columbus Crew vs. Tigres of Mexico. The winner of the June 2 final takes home $5 million in prize money and qualifies for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, being held in the United States.
Despite the loss, Martino saw positives in how his team played.
“I thought for 70 minutes we did well,” Martino said. “I thought we could have scored a second goal in the first half. When you are playing a quality opponent where when (Hector) Moreno comes out he is replaced by a player from the Chilean national team, and Mexican national team players are coming off the bench, you have to be very aware, very solid and not commit errors.
“We had not committed errors in the run of play, but we did with an unfortunate action. Considering that Monterrey had a full roster and we were missing key players, I liked how we competed.”
Miami took a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute when center back Tomas Aviles right footed a shot to the roof of the goal off a corner kick from Julian Gessel. The men in pink pressed the Monterrey midfield the rest of the half and were in control of the game heading to intermission.
“We faced a great opponent, a team that did a very good job in the first 90 minutes,” said Ortiz. “I am fortunate to have players on the roster who are high-quality and knew what they had to do after the expulsion (of Ruiz).”
Ortiz said his team expected to face Messi on Saturday.
“We were hoping he would play; I have said and will say again he is the best player in the world of all time,” Ortiz said. “He couldn’t be here. Hopefully, he will be there for the return leg and we can enjoy him, and do what we have to do to advance to the next round.”
With Messi unavailable, Martino went a starting lineup of Drake Callender, Marcelo Weigandt, Tomas Aviles, Nico Freire, Jordi Alba, Diego Gomez, Sergio Busquets, David Ruiz, Julian Gressel, Robert Taylor, and Luis Suarez.
Boca Raton resident Leo Afonso, a second-team winger who signed a first-team contract on Friday, made his Inter Miami debut. He came off the bench to replace injured Robert Taylor in the 37th minute and left the game at the 67-minute mark, replaced by center back Ryan Sailor after Ruiz’s red card. Taylor suffered an unspecified leg muscle injury, and Martino said he was awaiting a report from the team’s medical staff.
The team started the game in a 4-3-3 formation but shifted to a more conservative 4-5-1 when Los Rayados had the ball and the tactic worked until Miami went down a man.
“Monterrey is a team that requires you to play with great energy, and we didn’t have enough legs with 10 men to play for the final 20 minutes,” Martino said.
Asked how Ruiz, the 20-year-old Little Havana native, was handling the expulsion being such a young player, Martino said: “Everything is a learning experience, and David is a very young player. He is a very enthusiastic player who wants to keep learning. Because of circumstances he found himself starting in a game of this importance. While he was on the field I thought he played well, and the expulsion was also a learning experience. These mistakes you make in your youth can serve you for the rest of your career.”
Ruiz’s second foul was for unnecessary contact on Meza. Ruiz walked slowly back to the bench, realizing the gravity of his mistake.
Freire, a left center back, made his return from a hamstring injury that kept him out of the previous game. Weigandt, the Argentine right back, made his second start since joining the team last week.
