Player Ratings: Messi Scores, Welcome Back Fafa Picault as Inter Miami Defeats Atlanta United

Some demons were definitely exercised last night.

photo credit: Inter Miami CF

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After months of waiting to get their ‘revenge,’ Inter Miami managed to do so with a 2-1 win over Atlanta United.

Most trips to Atlanta don’t end well for the Herons. I’m sure you all remember the scarring playoff losses to the Five Stripes, but that was a different Miami squad.

Under Javier Mascherano, Inter Miami has gone unbeaten in his first 13 games. With the doubts surrounding the ex-Barcelona man as a manager, I’d say that’s a great start to his Miami tenure.

His familiarity with the “Barca 4” showed against Atlanta. Miami lined up in their - now, typical 4-4-1-1, or 4-4-2 formation. They were compact through the middle and shifted their defensive lines to stymie Atlanta’s attack.

While this is a player ratings article, and perhaps in the future I’ll do a deep dive into Miami’s new tactics, praising Mascherano for giving Miami’s talent a platform to succeed does need to be pointed out.

Without further ado, here are Player Ratings from Miami’s revenge match vs. Atlanta.

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Goalkeeping, Defense:

• 🧤 Rocco Rios Novo - 7: Quite shaky, but came up with a big save when needed.

• 💨 Jordi Alba - 8.1: Alba will continue to do Alba things. His attacking output is crucial for the Herons and he still has the wheels at 35 to track back.

• 🐥 Noah Allen - 8.8: Again, another strong performance from the 20-year-old. I do think that Mascherano’s go-to center-back pairing will be him alongside Falcon going forward. They’ve been magic together.

• 🦅 Maxi Falcon - 7.8: *Falcon screech*

• 🧔‍♂️ Gonzalo Lujan - 8: His best defensive performance in an Inter Miami shirt. With Ian Fray back in form and Lujan playing the way he is, I do struggle to see where Chelo Weigandt will fit in once he recovers.

Midfield:

• 💣 Telasco Segovia - 6.8: Like Allende, not his day!

• 🍝 Yannick Bright - 8.3: Probably Miami’s most important midfielder besides Busquets. Where does this leave Federico Redondo in this equation?

• 🧮 Sergio Busquets - 7: There were a couple of moments where he was a step too slow, or lost the ball in bad areas, but it’s very evident that Miami misses his progressive passing when he’s not on the pitch. Atlanta wasn’t a game where he took over, but his veteran experience was welcomed.

• 🧉Tadeo Allende - 6.7: Not very useful in this game, but that’s not necessarily his fault. Atlanta did well to track him in behind when he made those signature runs beyond the backline.

Attack:

• 🔫 Luis Suárez - 7.1: Decent game from the Uruguayan, the pitch surface probably didn’t help him much either.

• 🐐 Lionel Messi - 9: Injury worries aside, another MOTM performance from the Argentine. Hopefully, his muscle discomfort is nothing serious.

Substitutes:

• 💪 Benjamin Cremaschi - 7.3: Cremaschi is not the type of midfielder who will take the ball and control a game. His most valuable assets are his energy, physicality, and positioning. When he was subbed on against Atlanta, he did just that.

• 🐞 Federico Redondo - 6.5: Did well to stop Atlanta from getting a late winner/equalizer.

• 🦌 Fafa Picault - 9.3: Got back fit, and scored the game-winner; Incredible.

• 🦒 Tomas Avilés - N/A: Didn’t play long enough to warrant a rating.

Coaching:

• 🔢 Javier Mascherano - 8.9: Another strong performance from him on the touchline. Wasn’t afraid of making substitutions and game-planned well for Atlanta’s attack.

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Thoughts on the match? Let me know in the comments!