Why isn’t Jordi Alba playing for Inter Miami against Nashville SC?

Inter Miami return to Chase Stadium on Saturday, looking to maintain the momentum from last weekend’s dramatic turnaround victory against Sporting Kansas City.

The Herons will look to build on the 3-2 win at Arrowhead Stadium but will have to do so without left-back Jordi Alba, who picked up a hamstring injury late in the Sporting KC game. The Spaniard was forced from the field last weekend and Miami head coach Tata Martino has since revealed that Jordi Alba will be absent for at least two games, against Nashville SC and the New England Revolution.

What has Tata Martino said about Jordi Alba’s injury?

The Inter Miami head coach spoke to the media on Friday, ahead of the trip to Nashville. He confirmed that Jordi Alba will miss the next two games as he recovers from the injury.

“Definitely for this game and the next one he will be out, and from then on we will start to evaluate him, game by game,” Martino said of the veteran full-back.

Alba’s injury looks set to give back-up defensive option Franco Negri - himself only recently returned from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear - the chance to start for the Herons. Negri started and provided an assist in the recent MLS draw with Colorado Rapids but has had precious few opportunities in the past year.

Martino admitted that Negri does not have the illustrious career that Alba has enjoyed, but insisted that the Argentinian full-back has the quality to perform for Inter Miami.

“To compare in this way is not justified. Franco has the career that he has, Jordi has built a career at a higher level. It’s good that Franco has returned from a very serious injury, he has done his recuperation in the best way, he has played minutes in the second team so that today we can use him without any type of problem.”

Inter Miami and Nashville SC reignite the rivalry

The Herons take on a Nashville SC side that they have faced in two cup competitions in recent times, with Inter Miami coming out on top in both instances. The first was the final of the 2023 Leagues Cup, a watershed moment for Miami as they clinched the first piece of silverware in the club’s short history.

That game was the grand finale of an incredible Leagues Cup run sparked by the arrival of Lionel Messi, alongside his former Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. Messi opened the scoring in the final with an astonishing strike from the edge of the box and the Herons won the cup via a dramatic penalty shootout.

The other notable meeting was more recent, coming in this year’s CONCACAF Champions Cup. Miami, who qualified by dint of their Leagues Cup triumph, fought back from a two-goal deficit to draw the first leg 2-2 and duly despatched Nashville at Chase Stadium in the return fixture.

It was Inter Miami’s first continental victory and looked, briefly, like the start of another famous cup campaign for the star-studded Herons. However any hopes of a continental title were extinguished in the following round as Miami were brushed aside by a vastly superior Monterrey. Inter Miami bounced back from that loss with last weekend’s victory over Sporting KC and they will look to continue that momentum against Nashville.