Messi Might Play Against Atlanta: Martino

When Inter Miami takes on Atlanta United in the Leagues Cup on Tuesday, Lionel Messi might make his first start for the squad after his thrilling winning goal debut.

Messi, who won the World Cup, will take over as Inter Miami's new captain, according to Martino.

Messi, who joined Miami earlier this month, made his team debut on Friday against Cruz Azul of Liga MX while wearing the captain's armband. The Argentine striker scored a stoppage-time free-kick in the match.

Brazilian midfielder Gregore, who served as the team's former captain, will likely miss a significant amount of time due to a foot injury.

Asked if Messi would continue to captain Miami, Martino told reporters: "The other day he was (captain) too, when he entered. Yes, he will be."

As a 54th-minute substitution in Friday's 2-1 triumph over Cruz Azul of Mexico, Messi had an immediate impact, curling in a stoppage-time free-kick to seal the victory.

Despite choosing to limit Messi and Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets' playing time on Friday, Miami's Argentine head coach Martino revealed on Monday that he is inclined to start the two against his old team on Tuesday.

"Well, it is very likely that both Leo and Busi will play more time. I even think that if they are going to play more (then) we will change the dynamic and they will go maybe from the beginning. But we all know that when Leo starts, that amount of time we would be talking about is 90 minutes," said the former Barcelona and Argentina coach.

"But everything will depend on how they feel, it is only the second game that they are going to play," he said.

A win in Tuesday's game at DRV PNK Stadium would ensure Inter progress to the knockout stage of the new tournament for Major League Soccer and Mexican Liga MX clubs.

Messi and company would go nearly a month without a scheduled game should they fail to advance because MLS has suspended play until August 20.

Martino stated that his side is still figuring out how to effectively utilize their two new star teammates, who will shortly be joined by former Barcelona full-back Jordi Alba from Spain.

"We had already started working on changing the way we play but it is clear that with Busquets, Jordi and Leo we will have to (further) modify the way that we play and we also have to work on raising the level in general," said Martino.

In the locker room, goalkeeper Drake Callender claims the players have been working to keep the team dynamic as normal as possible for Messi, who has impressed them with his down-to-earth demeanor. The hype surrounding Messi's move to the USA has only grown since Friday's premiere.

"I didn't really know what to expect because I've never been around a player with that capacity before but he's a pretty humble guy. He's chill," he said.

"He's still trying to get a feel of how everything functions over here. So I think for myself as well as some of the other players, we are just making him feel welcome, making him feel like he's one of our teammates and just making him feel comfortable here.

"I try to chat with him when I can to make him feel like he's a part of the team. Again, just treat him like one of my teammates. I think he's somebody who, wherever he goes, there are all these cameras and lights. People want him to sign things and people want to talk to him. So I just try and be as normal as I possibly can," Callender added.

While Messi inevitably grabbed the headlines, former Barcelona midfielder Busquets also looked instantly at ease with his new team, reforging his old understanding with the Argentine.

Canadian central defender Kamal Miller said that having one of the finest passers of the ball in front of him requires a different approach to distribution from the back.

"Definitely with a player of that quality, we always want to look to go through him. He can thread the needle and find the killer pass at any time, so it's something that we look for a lot. And having a guy with that quality, it attracts so much attention, it opens up space for everyone else, so I think we're all going to benefit from it and hopefully it continues to go like it did on Friday," he said.