Spanish
Chicago (USA) (EFE).- Eliminated in the Concacaf Champions League semifinals, crushed 0-3 at home by Orlando City and capable of winning only one of their last 7 matches, Leo Messi and Luis Suárez are experiencing the toughest moment of their journey at Inter Miami, where the future of coach Javier Mascherano is up in the air.
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A season begun with maximum enthusiasm, with Inter Miami determined to fight for the MLS, the Leagues Cup and the Concacaf Champions League and to surprise in the new FIFA Club World Cup, has taken a radical turn in recent weeks, starting with the traumatic elimination from the 'ConcaChampions'.
La defensa: alarma en el Inter Miami de Messi
Up to that moment, despite the defensive alarms of Mascherano's team, Inter Miami felt confident and had given their fans a spectacular night in the quarterfinals of the 'ConcaChampions', by coming back in Miami from the 0-1 of the first leg against Los Angeles FC and reaching the semifinals.
Messi decided that match with a brace and had eight goals in the nine matches played up to that moment. Suárez had contributed four goals and five assists to the positive start of the season for Mascherano's men.
El golpe en la ConcaChampions
The match against Vancouver has been a psychological blow for Inter Miami. They lost 2-0 in the first leg and fell 1-3 at home in the second leg, which left them out of one of the major objectives of their season.
The 4-1 endorsement to the New York Red Bulls in the next MLS match, with a goal from Messi included, could not change the dynamic of Mascherano's team, which has not won since that fourth of May.
They lost against Minnesota, tied with San Jose Earthquakes, and were thrashed by Orlando City. Regardless of the defeats, the defensive numbers of Inter Miami stand out, having conceded ten goals in those three matches.
In the last seven matches, the pink team has conceded 20 goals.
Inter Miami's discontent was evident after the tough defeat in the Florida derby against Orlando and Messi, who very rarely speaks at the end of his team's matches, protested the refereeing.
“I think we had a great first half today. We were attacking, creating situations, they couldn't get out, they were kicking long balls.
And from a strange play, where one of their players passes to the goalkeeper and the referee himself told me that he didn't know the rule, that he didn't like that, that he didn't understand it… And, well, from there came a long ball and the goal came," Messi argued on Apple TV after last Sunday's match.
"But the truth is that there are times when there are specific errors like the last game (against the San Jose Earthquakes), you know? They are not excuses, but something always happens with the referees in some specific play. I think that MLS should look a little more at the issue of the referees," he added.
Mascherano in the spotlight
Mascherano, whose position on the bench is beginning to lose solidity, acknowledged that his club is having a hard time.
"The team has lost a lot of confidence, we have declined in individual and collective level. And it is clear that in some way or another we have tried with different systems, with different names and today it is costing us," said the Argentine in a press conference.
Inter Miami needs to react quickly, at a key moment in the MLS season that will lead, in a few weeks, to the debut in the Club World Cup.
Messi's team is in a demanding group with Oporto, Palmeiras and Al Ahly.
