Inter Miami was defeated 5-2 by Atlanta United on Saturday, thereby marking the club’s first loss since the arrival of Lionel Messi in July. This also brings an end to the club’s 12-match unbeaten streak across all competitions.
Manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino revealed that both Lionel Messi and his former FC Barcelona teammate Jordi Alba would be absent from the game due to muscular fatigue. Still, Atlanta coach Gonzalo Pineda confirmed that the inclusion or absence of such stars would not have an impact on his team’s approach to the game.
“I checked the Twitter account to know he was not coming,” Martino admitted, before explaining that he instructed his team to not pay too much attention to the latest goings-on regarding Messi. “Honestly, I told the players, there are a lot of things out there in the atmosphere and everything seems to be about Inter Miami. We have to turn that to about us.”
