Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets are likely to make their first appearances for Inter Miami tomorrow night against Atlanta United, head coach Tata Martino has said.
The former Barcelona team-mates, who have previously played together 568 times, joined the MLS club this summer and made their debut on the bench against Cruz Azul at the weekend.
Messi, who is now the Miami club’s captain, scored an injury-time free-kick to secure victory in the League Cup game at DRV PNK Stadium.
Tomorrow’s competition is another group stage game in the League Cup and Martino, who previously coached Atlanta from 2016-18, says Messi and Busquets are likely to start but it will depend on their fitness.
“It is very likely that Leo and Busi will play more,” said Martino on Monday. “You can expect the dynamic of the team to change as they play more minutes and they probably will from the start. Everything will depend on how they are feeling.”
Messi in Miami – read more…
Miami midfielder Robert Taylor spoke about how the two former Barca players affected the game against Cruz Azul.
“Obviously when they came on it changed the game massively,” Taylor said. “What I noticed, every time I got the ball from Busquets or Messi, I had loads of space and time. They attract players and know when to let go of the ball and when to keep it. It’s a level they bring to the game that will help everyone around them.”
Martino also touched on the different levels Messi can bring to the team.
He said: “It’s a little bit about (Messi) stepping further away from the elite levels where the people who played alongside him were very important, high quality players and replacing him with this one who… seeing him the other day when he walked into the game was like seeing him walk into one of those games on the court where you were going to play and you walk into those games wanting the ball and he walks into those games wanting the ball.”
You can follow live coverage of Messi and Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup game against Atlanta United on Tuesday night on our match blog.
Messi, who took the captain’s armband from DeAndre Yedlin when he came on as a substitute on his debut, completed his move to Miami earlier this month, inking a two-and-a-half-season contract with an option for a further year in the 2026 season.
Messi decided to move to the United States after leaving Paris Saint-Germain despite interest from Barcelona and Saudi club Al Hilal.
Following his appointment as head coach in June, he has linked up with the club’s former head coach Martino and is also joined by former Barca teammates Busquets and Jordi Alba.
The Making of Messi: A special audio series by The Athletic
To commemorate Messi’s move to Miami, we’ve created a special three-part audio series entitled The Making of Messi, which narrates the journey of how all roads led to Florida.
Alongside his ups and downs on the pitch, we trace his complex relationship with his country Argentina and explain the nuances of the unique deal that brought him to Miami – from equity stake to shirt sale to Saudi Arabia.
It features James Horncastle at his lyrical best, Michael Cox with his unmatched tactical acumen, and Felipe Cardena and Paul Tenorio’s local expertise, as we get to the heart of what drives Messi on and off the pitch.
You can listen to The Making of Messi in full for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for this title or The Athletic’s Go Deeper documentary feed.
GO DEEPER
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(Photo: EVA MARIE UZCATEGUI/AFP via Getty Images)