Fox Sports pundit Warren Barton reckons Vancouver Whitecaps exposed Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami’s weaknesses during their 3-1 win. The former claimed that the Herons lack balance and are incapable of defending as a unit.
Inter Miami faced Vancouver in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final at the Chase Stadium (April 30). Despite taking an early lead via Jordi Alba, the visitors outclassed Lionel Messi and Co. in the second half. Brian White, Pedro Vite, and Sebastian Berhalter took full advantage of some poor defending to score one goal apiece, ensuring Vancouver secured a 5-1 win on aggregate.
The core of the Herons’ starting XI includes Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba, with each superstar being over the age of 35. Barton believes their lack of mobility also held the hosts back against Vancouver, stating (via GOAL):
“Vancouver showed the weaknesses of Inter Miami. Because they can’t run, they can’t defend, and there’s not a balance in the team. Because five stay up front and the other five try and defend. And they can’t defend.”
Vancouver boss Jasper Sorensen also pointed this out following the game:
“I think it is fair to say that we have a younger team and also a team more capable of running and playing with high intensity. I think we really came out very strong at the start of the second half and exploited that the pitch was very open, they had some players that stayed up front, so we had to defend with a few guys and I just said ‘keep on running, run forward.”
Javier Mascherano’s side will next be back in action against the NY Red Bulls in the MLS on Saturday, May 3.
“You just try to limit them” – Jasper Sorensen on how Vancouver tried to defend against Lionel Messi during their 3-1 win over Inter Miami
Vancouver Whitecaps manager Jasper Sorensen has claimed his side focused on limiting Lionel Messi, admitting it would be difficult to ‘stop’ the Argentine ace. The former’s game plan was effective as Inter Miami suffered their third consecutive defeat across all competitions, with Vancouver booking their spot in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final.
Sorensen said (via GOAL):
“You know, you can’t stop them, you can only limit them. I think you can’t really control Messi—not only is he good at scoring, but he also handles the ball so well. They didn’t finish one of their chances, and you just try to limit them. He’s just too good. You can’t leave him alone, he’s very smart. He knows what to do before he even gets the ball.”
He added:
“So we had to try to prevent the team from playing through him. Busquets had too much space in the first match, so we tried to press him more.”
Lionel Messi struggled to make an impact for Inter Miami during their 3-1 loss, earning a match rating of 6.7, per FotMob. The 37-year-old created one chance, landed two shots on target from an attempted six (33 percent accuracy), and lost seven duels. He completed five out of his six attempted dribbles but was unable to register a goal contribution.
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Edited by Silas Sud
