Inter Miami was officially knocked out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup at the hands of Monterrey on Wednesday. The Mexican club previously edged Miami in Florida 2-1 in the first leg of the quarterfinals back on April 3. Argentine superstar Lionel Messi missed this previous match due to a nagging muscular issue.

Nevertheless, the playmaker made his return to the starting lineup in the second leg in Mexico. While many assumed Messi would help his club overcome the deficit, Monterrey won the contest by a score of 3-1. The star provided an assist for Diego Gomez for Miami’s lone goal of the game. Fellow former Barcelona player, Jordi Alba, was sent off in the second half of the fixture after picking up two yellow cards in four minutes.

Miami manager did not make a substitute during the heavy defeat

After the defeat, Miami manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino was questioned for his perceived lack of tactics in the game. The veteran manager did not make a single substitution on the night. This came although Monterrey held a 3-0 lead by the 65th minute. At the time of the Liga MX side’s third goal, they had a commanding 5-1 aggregate advantage over Miami.

The lack of moves quite possibly came down to the seemingly diminished options on Miami’s bench. Outside of Messi, the club has been dealing with a series of setbacks in the squad.

For instance, highly rated youngsters Facundo Farias and Federico Redondo have both suffered fairly serious injuries. Robert Taylor, Leonardo Campana and Sergiy Kryvstov also missed Wednesday’s match. Leonardo Afonso and Yannick Bright had been dealing with issues as well but were unused substitutes on the night.

Despite the injuries, Miami did have stars on the pitch against Monterrey. Along with Messi and Alba, Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets both featured in the loss.

Martino currently has a lower win rate than former coach Phil Neville at Inter Miami

Even before the most recent defeat, Martino’s time at the club has not yet gone as planned. The former Argentina and Mexico national team manager was brought in by Miami’s brass in July of 2023. Martino signed on with the team just days before Messi announced that he would soon be joining the Major League Soccer side. The veteran coach replaced Miami’s former manager Phil Neville. The Englishman endured a tough time at the helm during his two-and-a-half-year stay at the position.

Our Pick:

Includes: Every regular season game, MLS Cup Playoffs, Leagues Cup, & More

Sign Up
 

Miami finished 11th in the Eastern Conference table in the 2021 MLS season. Neville then was able to move his team up to sixth in the standings the following year. However, Miami fired the coach midway through the 2023 campaign after losing 10 of the team’s first 15 league fixtures. Neville finished his spell in south Florida with a win rate of just 38.89%.

While this percentage is not exactly impressive, it is currently fractionally higher than the win rate Martino has mustered at Inter Miami. Following the Monterrey defeat, the Argentine boss now has won just 38.24%. This is particularly disappointing considering the caliber of players Martino has to work with compared to Neville. All four of the aforementioned former Barca stars have joined the club since Martino signed on.

Having a player such as Messi on the team does not guarantee success. Nevertheless, many fans and pundits believed that the veteran coach would have Miami fighting for every trophy this season. The club is in a decent position in the MLS standings and will need to keep racking up wins to save the coach’s job. Miami currently sits third in the table but has played more matches than the two teams above them.

PHOTOS: IMAGO.