The coach of Rayados de Monterrey referred to the discussion he had with Lionel Messi in the locker room – – 2024-04-08 10:15:42

The match valid for the first leg of the Concachampions quarterfinals between Inter Miami and Monterrey of Mexico had a hot ending. Lionel Messi, who did not participate due to an injury, was one of the protagonists of the night when he was in the center of the scene because at the end of the game he went in search of the technical director of the rival team, Fernando Ortiz, who had made previous statements regarding alleged referee favoritism towards the MLS franchise.

According to journalist Fernando Schwartz, from Fox Sports, “Tata Martino complained to the referee and Jordi Alba, Leo Messi and Luis Suárez joined in, who was out of his mind. From there they met with the Monterrey coaching staff, they wanted to confront Tano Ortiz because of what he had declared that the arbitration could favor the MLS.

“The Rayados board intervened to separate them and asked the Concacaf commissioners to make a very complete report because if this had happened in a locker room in Central America, a scandal would have already broken out. This incident in the locker room leaves the return in Monterrey very hot,” the reporter added.

This information did not go unnoticed and generated a stir in the Mexican media. Upon returning to the country, the Argentine coach was approached by the press to try to clarify what happened to the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and world champion in Qatar 2022. “What happened will remain there. These are all the things that are talked about, I am not going to give any statement regarding that,” outlined the strategist.

After stating that “I am not here to report anything about that, I am not aware of that” when asked if Rayados de Monterrey will make a formal complaint to Concacaf for the actions of Inter Miami in the locker room area, Fernando Ortiz concluded : “I’m not going to talk about it, it’s something that arose there. My intentions were always the best. But we left it there.”

“We’ll see, it was a long journey. Tomorrow we will train and do our best to face Cruz Azul,” the technical director anticipated. This weekend the Albiazules will seek to remain at the top of the Liga Mx Clausura standings on their visit to the home of the Cement Machine. Then, on Wednesday, April 10, they will clash against Inter Miami in Nueva León for the second leg of the Concacaf Champions quarterfinals.

The discomfort within the Garzas with Fernando Ortiz originated from his statements prior to the first leg, stating “I hope the boys understand that (Messi) is just another player, they understand that he is just another rival, because then the other thing comes. The referee, the framework, the people; the boy, Lionel, who is perhaps more aware of what he suffers, that he does not play as much; Everything that surrounds Messi can lead to him making sporting and non-sporting decisions. Was I clear?,” he stated.

And he added: “Am I worried about the environment? Obvious. I don’t know if they can harm us, but the business is there. We all know that the business is not going the way of Monterrey, it is not that I am saying something that we do not all know. I understand the business, yes. I share it? No”.