Lionel Messi and Inter Miami were handed a shock exit from the MLS playoffs on Saturday, as the Herons suffered a 3-2 defeat to Atlanta United in the first round.
Lionel Messi’s hopes of lifting the MLS Cup were dashed on Saturday as Inter Miami suffered a shocking 3-2 defeat to Atlanta United.
Despite a stellar regular season, where Inter Miami clinched the MLS Supporters’ Shield for the best league record and set a new points record with 74, they entered the playoffs with high expectations. However, Atlanta United had other ideas, eliminating Messi and his team by winning the first-round postseason series 2-1.
The match was a rollercoaster with much of the action taking place within a few minutes in the first half. In the 15th minute, Diego Gomez passed to Messi, who took a close-range shot that was blocked by Atlanta United’s goalkeeper Brad Guzan. Not long after, a follow-up attempt from Inter Miami’s Matias Rojas found the back of the net.
It didn’t take long for Atlanta United to level the score. Just two minutes after Inter Miami took the lead, Atlanta United’s striker Jamal Thiare scored a stunning goal to make things even again. Thiare found the net again in the 20th minute, tucking it away from roughly 10 yards out to give his team a 2-1 lead.
The ball was played across by Alexey Miranchuk, and Thiare’s shot skimmed off Callender’s head before ricocheting into the top corner. Despite trailing at halftime, Messi equalised for Inter Miami in the 65th minute with a header from a Marcelo Weigandt cross.
This not only marked the Argentine’s first MLS Cup Playoffs goal but also made him the youngest player in professional football history to score 850 goals. There was no time for celebration, though, as Messi quickly retrieved the ball to continue play.
He was briefly blocked by Guzan, leading to a heated exchange between the goalie and several Inter Miami players. However, no further incidents occurred post-goal. The final blow came from Atlanta United in the 76th minute, silencing the crowd at Chase Stadium.
After an Inter Miami player fell in the box, many Herons stopped playing, assuming there would be a pause. But when no stoppage came from officials, Bartosz Slisz seized the opportunity to score with a leaping header from the left side.
Messi’s dream to snatch the MLS cup for Inter Miami took a hit with their recent defeat. Previously, he expressed his ambitions in an interview with Fabrizio Romano: “Hopefully we can win MLS Cup and lift another title,” he told soccer reporter Fabrizio Romano last month. “Not only on a personal level, but especially for the club that did so much to make it happen.
“It would be great to win it and keep the enthusiasm around our club,” he added. “We want to keep helping this club grow. We want to make it one of the big clubs in MLS and, if possible, one of the big clubs in the world as well.”
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