Miami dominated MLS for the past eight months en route to a Supporters’ Shield capture and a new single-season points record. They remain heavily favored against the Five Stripes even in the wake of ATLUTD’s impressive 2-1 comeback home win in Game 2, due first and foremost to the plain fact that Leo Messi and his devastating attacking foils Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba & Co. will be in uniform.
More often than not, Messi has been more than enough for IMCF this year. Yet his squad now find themselves in one of their first must-win situations together, needing an improved performance to stave off the shocking specter of a bottom-seeded upstart crashing their Audi MLS Cup Playoffs party way, way sooner than planned.
Their task may be significantly complicated by a deepening injury crisis that has ruled out a litany of key contributors, including Yannick Bright, David Ruiz, Ian Fray and Sergii Kryvtsov, sapping Martino’s options for a defensive unit that’s already looked wobbly and error-prone for long stretches of the year. The good news is Sergio Busquets, who missed Game 2, was medically cleared to play after Friday’s session and is now listed as “questionable” for the series decider.
“Look, it is true that we have had some mistakes that almost constantly have not cost us goals,” said Martino in Spanish during Friday’s matchday-1 media availability. “There are times when teams make mistakes that go unnoticed because they don’t end up inside the goal, and we have had some mistakes that have put us in this position, in a difficult situation, perhaps in the same game. But it is also true that we have had a team that has overcome that type of situation and that throughout the year we have solved it in the best way.”
