Miami into RO16 with Alba playing like 'No. 10'

Inter Miami CF head coach Gerardo Martino called Jordi Alba in for praise for his record-breaking four assists in a 4-3 victory over Toronto FC in the Leagues Cup round of 32, labeling the player a “number 10 who plays at left-back.”

Alba provided the assists on all of Miami’s goals at Chase Stadium to propel the reigning champions to the round of 16 of the competition.

“I said this I think two games ago, a number 10 who plays as a left-back and so we have a great assister from that side,” Martino said with a smile.

Despite the triumph, the Herons struggled defensively inside their own penalty area. Miami gave up two penalties to Toronto in the first half and Hector Martinez was handed a red card for a challenge inside the box to give the visitors a man advantage for most of the game.

“This was new in the team, that is, the reckless marking inside the area did seem to me to be something that I had not seen very well,” Martino said. “We have made mistakes many times, but we have rarely done it before being reckless inside the area and today we were reckless.

“I even think that even [Hector’s] move has a degree of recklessness. I had a coach who always told us to never take a penalty because we always have the goalkeeper in front of us and the striker can make a mistake.

“It seems to me that today we made very specific errors and above all we were reckless.”

The Herons will now prepare to face either the Columbus Crew or Sporting Kansas City in the next round of the tournament. Despite the opponent, Miami is set to play away from home with both Sporting KC and the Crew ranking higher in the tournament’s classification due to points accumulated from the 2023 MLS regular season.

Miami, which is still playing without injured start Lionel Messi, will play its round of 16 game on Monday, Aug. 12. Messi’s status for that game is unclear.

Toronto FC’s loss eliminates the team from this year’s Leagues Cup, and John Herdman’s side can now turn its focus to the ongoing MLS campaign.

Herdman also added that Federico Bernardeschi will have to take some time off after suffering an ankle injury during the game.

The former Italy international tweaked his ankle during the pre-match warm ups, but insisted on playing before exiting in the 18th minute of the game.