What you need to know as Inter Miami hopes for more Messi magic vs. Charlotte on Friday

Inter Miami’s fan base is giddy with delight since the arrival of Lionel Messi and the team’s four consecutive victories to reach the Leagues Cup quarterfinals Friday night against Charlotte FC.

Messi scored seven goals in those games, and twice pulled off late heroics with spectacular free kicks that astonished spectators, teammates and opponents. But coach Tata Martino warned that the undefeated record since Messi’s debut is no guarantee of victory Friday at DRV PNK Stadium (8:30 p.m., Apple TV MLS Season Pass).

“We have committed costly errors, we have not controlled all the games well, look no further than our game against Cruz Azul, and 60 minutes of the last game,” Martino said. “We can’t confuse results, which obviously have our expectations and morale very high, with good performances. We can’t be blinded by that. We have to see the areas we need to improve. If we think that with just this impetus we will win games, it will be very difficult. There’s a long way to go.”

Despite Miami’s thrilling penalty kick shootout victory on the road Sunday, FC Dallas exposed weaknesses in Miami’s defense, and Martino said that is not an overnight fix.

“It is not something you fix with a name change in the lineup, it is resolved with more work and more time,” Martino said. “This coaching staff started working 40 days ago in the middle of a tournament that finds us playing every three or four days. So, undoubtedly, the work you typically can put in during a full week we have not been able to do.”

Charlotte is a high-pressing team that likes to swarm, so Inter Miami will have to keep its shape and maintain possession as much as possible. Martino also has reason to be concerned about Miami defending set pieces. In his first four games as Miami coach, heading into the Dallas game, all five of the goals Miami conceded resulted from set pieces. St. Louis had two goals off corner kicks and one from a free kick. Cruz Azul scored on a corner, as did Orlando City.

Midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi says Miami will be ready.

“Our team is very motivated from what I can tell in locker room,” said Cremaschi, the Key Biscayne teenager who scored a goal during regulation and converted the winning penalty kick against Dallas. “Everyone is very united, on the same page with a lot of positive energy. We are now starting to feel what it’s like to win, and we are fighting to win the first title for this club.”

Cremaschi started 13 games in a row before Sunday, when Martino chose to go with new signee Diego Gomez, a young Paraguayan. Cremaschi replaced Gomez in the 64th minute and scored the go-ahead goal a minute later, on his first touch of the night.

Martino, asked to assess Gomez’s performance, said: “He is trying to accommodate himself quickly to MLS, dealing with some nerves, remember he is just 20. This month we have had the debuts of Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. To put Gomez in that same context would be unjust. He needs time to adapt and grow with the team, which is the same approach we will take with [Tomas] Aviles and [Facundo] Farias when they arrive.”

Martino was asked about some Liga MX team officials complaining that the Leagues Cup, in which all games are being played in the United States, gives MLS teams too much of an advantage over their Mexican counterparts.

“Everyone loves the business and then come the protests,” Martino said. “CONCACAF decided to launch this tournament, they reached out to the MLS and Liga MX, and they agreed to the conditions, finances and venues of the tournament. When you agree to those terms, you have no right to protest.

“If each club wants to complain, they should complain to the president of the Mexican federation, not the organizers of the tournament. The person who accepted these conditions was the president of the Mexican federation.”

Tickets for Friday’s game are on sale through TicketMaster starting at $150. They are priced a bit lower in the secondary market.