Inter Miami boss Tata Martino claims the 'genius' of Lionel Messi helped them secure draw against LA Galaxy

Inter Miami manager Tata Martino has paid homage to Lionel Messi following his side's 1-1 draw with LA Galaxy in the MLS yesterday (February 26). The tactician admitted that it was the genius of the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner that helped the Miamians rescue a point from the encounter.

Lionel Messi led the attack once again as Inter Miami clashed with LA Galaxy at the Dignity Health Sports Park in their second MLS game of the season. It was indeed a tough outing as both sides put in a resilient performance in Los Angeles.

Inter Miami suffered a setback in the 75th minute and it was looking like they were set to record their first defeat of the season when Dejan Joveljic opened the scoring for LA Galaxy. However, Lionel Messi came to the rescue once again.

The Argentine stepped up in injury time to bag the equalizer and ensured that the spoils were shared between the two clubs. Speaking after the game, Tata Martino confessed that Inter Miami struggled to keep up with the dominant hosts before going on to hail Lionel Messi for his genius impact.

"It's true that they dominated the first half, especially with the period in which Riqui Puig had the most amount of time with the ball and made the team play very well," the tactician said, as quoted by 90Min. "They recently got their last two DPs and because of that, the team looks completely different."

"Because they have a great No. 9 and also two dangerous wingers, and also they're very solid defensively. But then we had the personality to continue searching, and we reached the tie, well, you could say with the genius of Leo [Messi]," Martino added.

Lionel Messi now has two goal contributions to his name for Inter Miami in the MLS so far this season. The Argentine provided an assist in the 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake in the opening fixture before finding the back of the net against LA Galaxy.

What's next for Lionel Messi and Inter Miami?

Lionel Messi and his colleagues will get back to the pitch this weekend when they take on Orlando City in their next MLS fixture. They'll play in front of their fans at the Chase Stadium (formerly known as DRV PNK Stadium) on Saturday, March 2.

Following that, Tata Martino's men will face a yet-to-be-decided opponent in the round-of-16 stage of the CONCACAF Champions League next week (March 7) before squaring it off against Montreal in league action on Sunday (March 10).

As it stands, the Miamians sit atop the table in the Eastern Conference with four points from two games - having played one fixture more than the rest of the teams.