Inter Miami routs New England as Supporters’ Shield slips away

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami honored Sergio Busquets’ legendary career on Saturday night with a lopsided victory and postgame ceremony, but their Supporters’ Shield hopes simultaneously slipped away.

Messi dished out a trio of assists as the South Florida side pummeled the New England Revolution, 4-1, at a rainy Chase Stadium. Jordi Alba and Tadeo Allende bagged braces in the rout, which was punctuated with a postgame commemoration of Busquets for his decision to retire at season’s end.

The win moved Inter Miami into third place in the Eastern Conference with 59 points via a 17-7-8 record, but it was not enough to keep Javier Mascherano’s men in the hunt for the Supporters’ Shield. The Philadelphia Union clinched the best record in MLS this season with a 1-0 home triumph against New York City FC on Saturday night.

“If you look at it, Philadelphia is a deserving winner, but it also had an advantage of having played maybe 10 fewer games [across all competitions] than us,” Mascherano said. “...We would’ve loved to reach the final match day with chances to win, but this doesn’t change our objective at all. “We want to finish as high as possible and go into the playoffs in the best position we can.”

Losing out on the Supporters’ Shield also did not prevent Inter Miami from recognizing Busquets postgame with a ceremony that included flattering remarks from team co-owner Jorge Mas. A video featuring tributes from legends like Pep Guardiola, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Carles Puyol, Luis Enrique, and Messi was also displayed on the big screens. “This journey continues even though soccer soon ends,” Busquets said during his speech. “Thank you to everyone for sharing this moment for me.”

After a pair of subpar performances in recent days, Messi was back to his usual self against the Revolution.

He helped break the deadlock in the 32nd minute by playing an exquisite through ball on the turn to a wide open Allende, who buried the opener with a low shot from the right.

Messi dished out another assist right before halftime. The superstar Argentine took advantage of a poor clearance by New England goalie Matt Turner, collecting the misdirected ball before dribbling by a defender to feed Alba for a close-range finish.

“This is routine for him,” Allende said of Messi’s helpers. “If he does not punish you all the time with goals, then he punishes you with assists.”

The Revolution provided a brief scare through a 59th-minute goal from Dor Turgeman, who embarrassed a defender before curling home a spectacular effort, but Inter Miami broke the tie almost immediately after the strike that made the score 2-1.

Messi played Allende through again one minute later for a close-range finish that reestablished the Herons’ two-goal lead, and Alba capped the scoring in the 63rd minute after receiving a pass down the left from substitute Telasco Segovia.

Visibly hungry for a goal, Messi missed an opportunity to join the scoresheet in the 54th minute. Busquets filtered a pass behind the Revolution’s back line to his longtime teammate, but Messi’s effort rolled wide of the left post.

“You could clearly see he had a lot of desire to score,” Mascherano said of Messi, who missed a chance to add to his one-goal lead atop the MLS Golden Boot race.

Mascherano made five changes to the starting lineup from the loss to the Chicago Fire.

Rocco Rios Novo received a surprise nod in goal ahead of incumbent Oscar Ustari, Baltasar Rodriguez slotted into the midfield over Yannick Bright, and Ian Fray, Maximiliano “Peluca” Falcon, and Noah Allen returned to the back line.

Inter Miami’s next match, the penultimate of the regular season, will be played during FIFA’s international break on Oct. 11 at home against Atlanta United.

Messi is unlikely to take part due to his call-up to Argentina’s national team, which plays a day earlier vs Venezuela at Hard Rock Stadium.

“We will see who we have available,” Mascherano said. “The reality is that some players are off to be with their national teams.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2025 at 10:28 PM.