Why isn’t Luis Suárez playing for Inter Miami?

Tata Martino’s depleted Herons travel to Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Revolution in MLS.

Inter Miami line up without Luis Suárez for the trip to New England Revolution, a major headache for head coach Tata Martino as his side look to build on two recent victories in MLS.

The Uruguayan has been benched for Saturday’s game, which will take place on New England’s artificial turf playing field. During his recent spell in Brazil Suárez opted not to play in games on artificial surfaces due to a fear of aggravating an existing knee condition.

Suárez has been a key part of the Herons’ impressive start to the 2024 MLS campaign, scoring six goals and providing four assists across nine appearances. But, at 37 years old, Suárez’s fitness is an issue and the prospect of playing on the artificial turf surface at Gillette Stadium is clearly not an appealing one.

The Spaniard picked up an apparent hamstring injury in the victory over Sporting Kansas City earlier this month. Jordi Alba has looked like the most durable of the ex-Barcelona quartet during his time in MLS, but he succumbed to an muscular complaint that will keep him out for at least two game.

Martino told reporters after the Kansas City game: “Jordi suffered a muscle injury, he will miss this upcoming match and the next one. After that, we will begin evaluating on a game-by-game basis.”

The former Barcelona star is not the only one missing out for Inter Miami. Tata Martino is also without Federico Redondo, who has been out since March with a torn lateral knee ligament. The return of Benjamin Cremaschi from injury will help to fill that gap in midfield, but the loss of Redondo’s passing will be an issue for Miami.

The Herons are also without a handful of long-term