Lionel Messi puts on a clinic, propels Inter Miami into knockout stage of Leagues Cup
In his Inter Miami debut, Lionel Messi delivered his first memorable moment.
For an encore on Tuesday night, he put on a clinic.
While his game-winning goal this past Friday to help Inter Miami beat Cruz Azul will likely long be remembered, Messi gave everyone watching Inter Miami’s 4-0 rout of Atlanta United on Tuesday night a demonstration of his greatness.
In his first start in an Inter Miami uniform, Messi struck early and often with a pair of goals in the first 22 minutes of the match to spark the lopsided result that advanced Inter Miami to the knockout stage of the Leagues Cup.
But Messi didn’t just show off his renowned striking ability.
Perhaps more importantly, Messi showed what a quick and noticeable impact he has already had on his Inter Miami teammates.
That was evident to anyone that witnessed 28-year-old midfielder Robert Taylor’s two goals in the wake of Messi’s early barrage — one of which the latter directly assisted in the 53rd minute.
“The impact he continues to have, and it’s just starting, when you see so many people and celebrities come to see him and the enthusiasm he has with his teammates, it continues to translate to good performances,” Inter Miami coach Tata Martino said. “The important thing is the effect it continues to have on this team.”
Messi exited his first start after 77 minutes, clapping his hands high as the near-capacity crowd at DRV PNK Stadium acknowledged the soccer megastar, and just as one of those fans raced onto the field to get as close as possible to him before stadium security thwarted his attempt.
With the victory, Inter Miami won the South 3 Group in Leagues Cup pool play and advanced to the Round of 32, which will be played from Aug. 2-4. Inter Miami will host the winner of the South 2 Group, which will be the winner of Saturday’s match between Orlando FC and Mexican club Santos Laguna.
Even more notable in the long-term was the way an Inter Miami team currently residing in last place in the MLS standings — thanks to its Messi-led new look lineup — thoroughly outplayed an Atlanta United squad that currently holds seventh place and would qualify for the league’s postseason.
“It was a little bit calmer. We obviously had more time to work together, so I think everybody is a little more confident in their roles and knew what they had to do,” Inter Miami’s DeAndre Yedlin said. “And then, obviously, it’s nice to get a clean sheet. ... And to score four goals, I don’t remember having done that. It was great.”
In his first appearance this past Friday, Messi entered in the second half, played roughly 30 minutes, and delivered a dramatic, free-kick game winner in stoppage time.
It took him only eight minutes to find the back of the net on Tuesday thanks to a great through ball from his former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets, who also made his first Inter Miami start after coming off the bench Friday.
Messi dribbled toward the goal and fired a shot off the post before tapping home his own rebound.
The tandem of Messi and Taylor did the rest.
Taylor delivered a perfect left-footed cross to a streaking Messi for the second goal 14 minutes after the first.
With that goal, Messi made Atlanta United the 100th different opponent he has scored against in his career.
The two goals give Messi 810 goals combined in his 1,030 career games in both club and international play.
Taylor, who scored Inter Miami’s other goal against Cruz Azul on Friday, matched Messi’s line with two goals and one assist, scoring his first on a beautiful left-footed shot in the 44th minute off an assist from Ben Cremaschi. Taylor struck again in the 53rd minute as Messi drew three Atlanta defenders on a rush upfield and delivered the ball perfectly to him, allowing him to find the mark on another crossing shot.
“The arrival of Messi and Busquets has given all of our players tremendous confidence and they feel more freedom on the field,” Martino said. “With that, we continue to gain more practice time and the other day we had a result that didn’t reflect what happened overall on the field. Today, was an important result but we need to continue to improve.”
THIS AND THAT
Busquets played just more than 71 minutes before being substituted by Victor Ulloa.
Christopher McVey was issued a red card in the 84th minute after a takedown of an Atlanta forward inside the 18-yard box, which resulted in a penalty kick. But Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender stoned Thiago Almada and then made the last of his six saves on a subsequent rebound.
This story was originally published July 25, 2023 at 9:31 PM.
