MLS
Tata Martino and his record in finals with Lionel Messi
Tata Martino is the new coach of Inter Miami and will link up once again with Lionel Messi after managing him with Barcelona and Argentina.
On Wednesday Gerardo “Tata” Martino was confirmed as the new head coach of Inter Miami, where he will once again link up with Lionel Messi, after spells together at FC Barcelona and Argentina.
Although the experienced tactician’s project at Barça got off to a good start, winning the Spanish Super Cup against Atlético in August 2013, the rest of the 2013-14 campaign was a failure as no more trophies were lifted at Camp Nou.
The season prior to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil was disastrous for the Catalan side, as under Martino they were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League at the hands of Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid (quarter-finals), lost the final of the Copa del Rey to Real Madrid (2-1) and missed out on the LaLiga title to eventual champions Atlético, who won the league at Camp Nou on the final day.
Martino’s bittersweet spell with Argentina
After leaving Barcelona, Martino took over the Argentina national team after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Leading the country after they lost the final to Germany under Alejandro Sabella was an interesting challenge for the coach who had spent time with the Paraguay national team, Libertad of the same country and Newell’s Old Boys.
Despite doing a good job with La Albiceleste, who he took to the finals of the 2015 Copa America and 2016 Copa America Centenario, unfortunately for him and Messi, they were defeated by Chile in a penalty shootout on both occasions. With these defeats, Martino ended up leaving Argentina.
Objective is to win another title with Messi
Although the task appears to be quite difficult to reverse in MLS 2023, Martino hopes to build a team capable of winning the championship with Messi. Messi has not yet arrived to join the squad, but the Argentine forward and the experienced coach will be aiming to conquer all around them.