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Luis Suarez and Tata Martino have spoken about the prospect being without Lionel Messi as Inter Miami prepare to take on CF Monterrey on Wednesday.
Messi faces a race against time to be fit from a hamstring problem ahead of the first leg of Miami’s CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-final against Monterrey later on Wednesday. Despite it being such a huge clash for the Herons coming up against the Liga MX giants, head coach Martino insists no “risks” will be taken, and he maintains that the mercurial Argentine’s role is still “not defined”.
On the possibility of Messi playing, Martino told reporters on Tuesday night: “Leo has an injury, and we have to manage his minutes. We have an important game tomorrow but we have to think that we’re just starting April. For us, this is all just starting and we cannot put the conditions of our players at risk. We will determine fundamentally what is the best for Leo and every other player, and then we’ll make the correct decisions.”
Should Messi be unable to feature from he start, the onus will be on his veteran strike partner Suarez to provide the firepower up top. But the Uruguayan underlined that Miami can be successful without Messi, adding: “[Messi is] a player that makes a difference, we know it. We’ll wait until tomorrow to see if he’s there but if he’s not we’ll do it like we did the other day and win the games without him. If he’s there, we’ll enjoy it more. We know it’s a long season, we have a lot of injuries but we have a big team and we have a lot of really good players that can replace the others. Play continues, if the team stays together and keeps going forward that’s the focus.”
Messi has been sidelined since March 13 with a hamstring issue that forced him off 50 minutes into Miami’s 3-1 victory over Nashville in the last round of the Champions Cup. He hasn’t played for the Herons since and even had to withdraw from Argentina’s March internationals to continue his rehabilitation. In his absence, Martino’s side have won one, lost one and drawn one, as they remain second in the MLS Eastern Conference.
Miami were handed a major boost when the Argentine was pictured returning to training on Tuesday morning, although it remains to be seen whether he has had enough time to full recover to star from the off on Wednesday night.
