Messi, Mascherano watch from stands as Inter Miami beats Tigres 2-1 in Leagues Cup
Inter Miami’s biggest star, injured captain Lionel Messi, watched in street clothes from the stands, and its coach, Javier Mascherano, was ejected at halftime in a wild 2-1 Leagues Cup quarterfinal victory against Mexican power Tigres.
Both of Miami’s goals were scored on penalty kicks by Luis Suarez after handballs in the box by Tigres midfielder Javier Aquino.
Mascherano was shown a red card for arguing with officials as the teams headed to the tunnel after the first-half whistle with Miami holding a 1-0 lead. Referee Mario Escobar had added four minutes of extra time, but let the clock run nearly seven minutes as Miami players and coaches screamed and pointed to the scoreboard.
Mascherano watched the rest of the game from a team suite near field level. He was shown on T.V. gesturing and on his cell phone, which is permitted per tournament rules. A Leagues Cup statement read: “Inter Miami coach was located in a space designated in accordance with tournament regulations. Cellphone communications are not prohibited per Leagues Cup regulations.”
He is suspended for the Leagues Cup semifinal against Orlando City Aug. 27 and was not allowed to participate in the post-game media conference. Assistant coach Leandro Stillitano coached the second half.
“At the end of the first half, the ref added four minutes and we played six or something like that,” said Miami assistant coach Javi Morales. “We were arguing about the time, and Javier got the red card, and we didn’t get any more information.”
Morales added that although it was a wild game, he felt Miami played well.
“I think we played a very good first half, played the way we wanted,” Morales said. “We scored a goal, created chances, they didn’t create much. In the second half, they adjusted and found spaces. But at the end of the day we found a way to keep fighting and we won the game.”
Tigres’ Edgar Lopez had a chance to tie it in the closing minutes, but his shot bounced off the left post, the crossed the goal mouth and clanked off the right post as Miami players and fans breathed a giant sigh of relief.
When the game ended, celebratory pink smoke filled the air as Mascherano fist bumped fans in the stands and was escorted by security guards up the stadium aisle. Inter Miami will play state rival Orlando City in the semifinal, a rematch of the 4-1 Miami loss two weeks ago in a regular season MLS game. Orlando also beat Miami 3-0 earlier in the season.
Messi smiled from a suite earlier in the game as Suarez, his close friend, blasted a penalty kick into the bottom right corner to give Inter Miami a lead in the 23rd minute. The PK was awarded after a Jordi Alba cross bounced off Aquino’s hand.
Suarez looked toward the suites, pumped his right fist and celebrated with teammates after he converted the PK. The 38-year-old Uruguayan has been breaking out of a scoring slump in recent games and said on Tuesday that he did not let goal droughts discourage him because he was still helping the team with 15 assists.
On this night, he found the back of the net twice. The second came in the 89th minute, igniting the home crowd.
Suarez also has been lauded for his leadership skills, which are especially important when Messi is not on the field.
He acted as peacemaker after the first-half whistle, breaking up a heated argument between his Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul and his Uruguayan compatriot Fernando Gorriaran. The two players were jawing at each other when Suarez stepped in, put his arm around Gorriaran and led him into the tunnel.
Alba injured his lower leg in the final minutes of the first half. He hobbled through to the whistle, started the second half, but came off shortly and was replaced by Noah Allen. “We don’t have an official medical report on Jordi yet, but from what I understand he had a knock to the knee,” Morales said.
Messi returned from a hamstring injury last weekend to provide late-game heroics in a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy, suffered a setback and did not train with the team the past few days. He was seen massaging his leg during the Galaxy game and he bolted from the field immediately after the final whistle.
Wednesday’s match was a showdown of high-profile MLS and Liga MX clubs, both with heavy Argentine influences. Both coaches, Miami’s Mascherano and Tigres’ Guido Pizarro, are from Argentina. Nine players on Miami’s roster are from Argentineans, and four from Tigres.
Inter beat Atlas and Pumas and earned two points against Necaxa with a penalty shootout win in the group phase to advance to the quarterfinals. Tigres beat the Houston Dynamo and San Diego FC and lost to LAFC 2-1.
Tigres got stronger this summer with the addition of Argentine attacker Angel Correa, who was a teammate of Messi’s and De Paul’s on the World Cup championship team. Correa and De Paul began this season as teammates with Atletico Madrid and both made summer moves to North America.
Correa scored the lone goal for Tigres in the 67th minute, getting past Miami defender Gonzalo Lujan.
Most of the fans at Chase Stadium were dressed in pink, but there was a spirited smattering and yellow and blue supporting the visiting team. Tigres fans, many of whom traveled from Monterrey, cheered in the parking lot when their team bus pulled up. The crowd included Mexican singer Cristian Castro and Mexican national team coach Javier Aguirre.
Miami’s starting lineup included: goalkeeper Oscar Ustari, right back Ian Fray, center back Gonzalo Lujan, center back Maxi Falcon, left back Jordi Alba, midfielder Yannick Bright, midfielder Sergio Busquets (captain), midfielder Tadeo Allende, midfielder Rodrigo De Paul, midfielder Telasco Segovia, and forward Luis Suarez.
“This game can mark a before and after for our team’s mindset and where we are this year,” Suarez said. “We’re treating it like a final. If we face all these games like we faced the Club World Cup, I think we can win both Leagues Cup and MLS Cup. But it depends on us.”
This story was originally published August 20, 2025 at 8:30 PM.