Gerardo Martino warned that no team can fully neutralize Lionel Messi over 90 minutes ahead of Atlanta United's clash with Inter Miami. Gerardo “Tata” Martino reflected on what it means to face his former star player Lionel Messi ahead of Atlanta United’s clash with Inter Miami this Saturday, in what marks his first meeting with the Argentine since taking over as Atlanta’s head coach. Martino, who led Miami to the 2023 Leagues Cup and 2024 Supporters’ Shield before stepping away last year, didn’t hold back when discussing the challenge of trying to contain his old captain. “Really, he’s the one who has the decision, not us — we’re the ones who are going to play against him. It’s always been that way. I don’t know, we just saw it, 39 years old at a World Cup, and everything that happened in a match went through him,” Martino said. The reference wasn’t lost on anyone following Messi’s summer: at 39, he delivered arguably his best statistical World Cup, scoring eight goals as Argentina reached the final before falling to Spain. Building toward Saturday. 🧱🔥 #MIAvATL pic.twitter.com/KvNF1YcRFc— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) September 2, 2026 “No team is capable of neutralizing him for 92, 93, 95 minutes of a match. So there’s always a moment where he’s going to be decisive. Sometimes there are many moments in a match, sometimes, like the match against England, it’s just one moment and it’s over, there’s no turning back,” Martino continued. “And this is the same thing. I told the players: if we control the game for 89 minutes, it’s possible we still lose it,” the Argentine coach added. The comments set the stage for Saturday’s matchup, as Atlanta look to spring an upset against a Miami side currently sitting second in the Eastern Conference. Martino and Messi’s shared history across three teams Martino first coached Messi at Barcelona during the 2013-14 season, guiding the club to a 40-11-8 record across 59 matches and lifting the Spanish Super Cup, though Barcelona fell short in both LaLiga and the Copa del Rey that year. He then took the reins of the Argentina national team in 2014, leading Messi and company to a 19-7-3 record over two years, reaching back-to-back Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016, both of which ended in defeat to Chile. Their most successful stretch together came at Inter Miami, where Messi’s arrival in 2023 produced an immediate impact under Martino, scoring 11 goals in his first nine matches for the club. Martino went on to guide Miami to the 2023 Leagues Cup and the 2024 Supporters’ Shield before departing the club last year, closing out a partnership with Messi that spanned more than a decade across three different teams.
Falkirk manager John McGlynn says he doesn't want his side to be known as a team that "plays nice football but doesn't win games". Following their League Cup group stage elimination at the start of the season, the Bairns have suffered three defeats and a draw in their first four Premiership fixtures, including 2-1 losses to both Celtic and Rangers. "The players are now working so hard together," he told Falkirk TV.
Liverpool have reportedly already agreed personal terms over a potential transfer swoop for Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara. The Senegal international saw a Deadline Day move to Chelsea fall through, and Indy Kaila is now reporting that the Reds are targeting the player. Camara has impressed in Ligue 1 and it perhaps makes sense that he’s […] The post Personal terms agreed: Liverpool make progress on signing in “fast-moving story” appeared first on CaughtOffside.
The 54th Australian to play in the Premier League insists he will continue working hard – and cannot wait to face Erling HaalandOn the opening day of the Premier League season, with just over an hour gone in Hull City’s clash with Manchester United, Lucas Herrington got up off the bench. With the Tigers 2-0 up, manager Sergej Jakirović turned to the 18-year-old Australian to replace injured goalscorer Nobel Mendy with a clear role in mind.“I knew the job that had to be done,” Herrington says, two weeks after his debut. “I knew that we had to see out the game. It wasn’t going to be easy because they were going to throw everything at it. With their subs, they did. They were more attacking.” Continue reading...
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