It is hard to imagine Inter Miami making the most of their impressive strides in the game all without their top star in Lionel Messi, and yet the club’s opening game in the Leagues Cup has shown that the squad definitely has what it takes to win big without the best player on the planet. That has seemed to ignite their hopes of winning in the Leagues Cup so far.

A year ago, Inter Miami opened its campaign in the Leagues Cup with a win against a LIGA MX club, but it was Messi who drilled the free-kick winner in his debut that time. This time, however, the Argentine star was in the stands watching his team wage war in his stead, showing how deep the roster is for Inter Miami at this point.

Inter Miami is set to play against the Tigres UANL in the next game for the Leagues Cup this August 4th, and there are a lot of hopes for the team’s chances of winning as they seek to deliver a promising run when they face their opponents at the NRG Stadium next week.

A Confident Version of Inter Miami

There’s no denying that Inter Miami has seen a spark of confidence, and their games have been really quite off the charts, claiming one win after another. Inter Miami had a total of 16 shot attempts in the win, with nine of those on target. They held the ball for 59% of the game and made 532 passes for a promising 86% accuracy, and if you are not impressed with their superb performance, Miami just held Puebla to two shots on target for the whole game.

Matias Rojas drew first blood for Miami in the game by the ninth minute. Miami would go on to keep the lead with some superb defense as they prevented Puebla from scoring a goal to tie the game. Luis Suarez would go on to put the exclamation point on the game with another goal in the 72nd minute to close the game for good.

"We are a team that goes out to the pitch and establishes things during the first minutes of the game, that's important to start winning," Suárez after the match. "Puebla found themselves in a difficult situation, being down on the scoreboard. And we could finish it during the second half."

Winning Without Messi

It is definitely not an easy look to have your best player sitting out a crucial tournament. Lionel Messi is expected to be out for the entirety of the Leagues Cup, which means that the team will have to rely on the rest of its players, like Suarez, to lead the way towards the top. So far, it does seem that all is well for Inter at this point.

"Inter have already won this, they have the experience," Suárez said. "This is a matter of fighting until the end. Some like this, some may not, but we need to get used to it. Our obligation is to work."

Inter Miami has entered the Leagues Cup with a promising balance in their games. The team also leads the MLS in the Supporters' Shield race, with a five-point lead over FC Cincinnati. Their impressive depth has been quite the story of this season, and it cannot be denied that the team has managed to figure out so many things that could have been the cause of their downfall late in the season.