The 'Messidependencia' of Inter Miami, in numbers

'No Messi No Fun'.

Inter Miami is a team when they have the Argentine star on the pitch, and a very different one when he, as has happened lately, is absent from the game. To prove it are the numbers that ESPN compiled after last night's setback against Houston Dynamo in the US Open Cup final.

Let's see. Since 'La Pulga' debuted with the 'Herons' on July 21, the team played 16 games with a balance of nine victories, five draws (three of them resolved favorably on penalties) and a couple of setbacks. The harvest, obviously, is commendable. However, a lot changes when Messi is taken out of the equation.

Thus, of the four matches that Inter had to face without the services of the '10', He could only win one, draw another and lose the remaining two, including this Wednesday's skid. And in terms of scoring performance, in those confrontations he scored seven times and conceded ten goals, a relationship very similar to the 34-12 that the squad has achieved with its best man on the field.

So that Inter Miami cries out for Messi's return to settle the final stretch of the MLS schedule and look for the still complicated passage to the playoffs. There are five games left, and since we need to make up several positions, we have to add three at a time.

Given what we have seen, without Leo that will be an almost impossible mission.