Inter Miami oust Tigres in WILD Leagues Cup quarterfinal | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

It felt like a battle of attrition – a grueling equation Inter Miami CF were on the wrong side of.

The Herons opened their Leagues Cup quarterfinal matchnight with news that Lionel Messi would not be in uniform for Wednesday’s clash with LIGA MX giants Tigres UANL, sidelined again by the hamstring issue he’d just returned from last weekend.

“It would make the game 100 times easier if he were here,” IMCF defender Ian Fray later admitted, “but we still expect to win.”

The absences would keep stacking up on an evening equal parts surreal and riveting at Chase Stadium.

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Surreal scenes

Even after a coherent, composed first-half performance earned the home side a 1-0 lead via a Luis Suárez penalty kick, Javier Mascherano was ejected by referee Mario Escobar at the stroke of halftime thanks to the Herons' head coach’s incensed reaction to a few extra minutes added to stoppage time.

Rather than retiring backstage, however, ‘Masch’ reappeared in a box seat in the stands above the benches, appearing to conduct an animated phone conversation with assistant Lucas Rodríguez Pagano following his sending-off.

“To be honest, it was wild, you know? Because we didn't expect the red card, and the game, they start to play well at that moment, and I didn't see what's going on,” said Javier Morales, another Miami assistant, as he deputized in the postgame press conference.

“I don't know, a lot of things happening on the bench.”

Big-team mindset

Early in the second stanza, it was Jordi Alba who departed early, unable to continue after picking up a lower-leg injury before the break. Later, Fray himself had to make way, his muscles cramping up amid a period of extensive Tigres pressure leading up to a deserved 67th-minute equalizer via their new star Ángel Correa.

At that point, it felt like Miami’s luck had run out. These are the scenarios in which the Nuevo León club thrive, a clutch gene honed in the process of accumulating five league titles and one Concacaf Champions Cup trophy over the past decade, their savvy squad accustomed to winning when it matters most.

Conversely, IMCF’s very existence only dates back to 2020. Yet it was the Rosanegra who dug deep and persevered, even with their talisman Messi rendered a spectator, his fellow veterans shouldering the burden of leadership and performance.

“We worked as a team,” said goalkeeper Óscar Ustari in Spanish. “Beyond the class that this squad has, it is a team that has to run, because they [Tigres] also like to play with the ball, they are used to playing with the ball and that requires a certain effort … With the class that Tigres have, at some point in the game we would have to drop deep.”

Their chronically wobbly defense switched into survival mode to soak up pressure. The much-scrutinized Ustari made a superb reflex save to deny Correa from close range at the near post. And the midfield came to grips with the ragged, relentless ebb and flow of what looked and felt like “a tennis game, kind of,” as Yannick Bright put it.

“Games have moments where you suffer, and we suffered for quite a bit. Óscar made a huge save when it was 1-1,” said Fray, “a huge near-post save, and I think after that save the momentum kind of shifted a little bit.”

Superb Suárez

Most of all, Suárez rolled back his 38 years once again, leading the line with both guile and grit before coolly slotting home his second PK of the night, an 89th-minute winner made possible by Javier Aquino’s second handball offense in the Tigres penalty box.

“Every time, I try my best to help the team,” El Pistolero later told Apple TV, alluding to the “responsibility for the big players” who know what it takes in a knockout situation like this without Messi available.

One of Miami’s most-criticized regulars this season as his scoring production dropped off from last year’s 20 league goals, here the Uruguayan ran 5.7 miles, created two chances, completed 89% of his passes and chipped in his share of defensive actions in addition to his two clinical conversions from the spot.

“Luis is amazing, honestly,” said Bright. “I don't understand how can people criticize him, because the amount of work that he does for the team is insane. And I mean, it's still Luis Suárez, you know? It's still one of the greatest strikers of all time.”

IMCF’s reward? A chance at revenge on cross-state rivals Orlando City, who have twice defeated the Herons in league play this season to the tune of a 7-1 aggregate, in next Wednesday's Leagues Cup semifinal at Chase Stadium (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+).

WATCH: Semifinal bound! Luis Suárez leads Inter Miami over Tigres