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Hampered by a minor leg injury, Lionel Messi has missed Inter Miami’s past three Major League Soccer games, forcing the team to adjust its attack.
“Leo has a muscle overload in his right leg,” Inter Miami coach Tata Martino said in mid-March after pulling Messi off at halftime against Nashville in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. “We don’t want to take any kind of risk with him.”
For Miami, all balls run through Messi, whether they are played centrally from midfielders such as Sergio Busquets or crossed in by wingers such as Diego Gomez. With its star’s recovery entering its fourth week and no signal that he’s ready to return, Miami has restructured its offense.
When Messi is available, Martino tends to choose an attack-minded 4-3-3 lineup – that means four defenders, three midfielders and three forwards.
While Martino shuffles defenders based on fitness and availability, he almost always picks Jordi Alba on the left side, with Julian Gressel, Busquets and Gomez making up the midfield and Messi, Luis Suarez and Robert Taylor completing the attack. This lineup is quick, aggressive and focused on getting balls to its star forwards. This attack reached its apex in Miami’s 5-0 victory over Orlando City on March 2.
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