Messi must wait for 900th goal, Inter Miami ties Nashville 0-0 in Champions Cup
Lionel Messi chased career goal No. 900 but was held scoreless in heavy rain Wednesday night at GEODIS Park as Inter Miami settled for a 0-0 tie against familiar foe Nashville SC in the opening leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 series.
The Argentine icon had scored 15 goals in 10 games against Nashville, the most against any MLS opponent since he joined MLS in the summer of 2023. But on this night, the yellow-clad opponents did a good job of holding him in check.
In fact, Miami likely would have lost the game if not for three big saves by Dayne St. Clair, a Canadian national team goalkeeper who joined Inter Miami this season after winning 2025 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year with Minnesota United.
Two saves came within a four-minute span. St. Clair blocked Warren Madrigal’s shot in the 38th minute. Four minutes later, Sam Surridge blasted a clear chance on net at the top of the box. St. Clair leaped in the air and knocked the ball over the crossbar to keep the game scoreless at intermission.
St. Clair’s best save came at the 65-minute mark after a great corner kick delivery from Cristian Madrigal to the head of Reed Baker-Whiting, who redirected the ball toward the goal, but an alert St. Clair, showing the reflexes that earned him the top MLS honors, deflected the shot over the crossbar. He finished with five saves on the night.
Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said he was happy to see St. Clair get a clean sheet and he is pleased with how he is adjusting to his new team.
“It was important for us to stay alive in the series and also for him; I know what it means for a goalkeeper to record a shutout,” Mascherano said. “We know what a great goalkeeper he is. When we signed him, we knew we were signing a national team player. Clearly, we have a style of play where the keeper doesn’t get the ball that much, but when they do, they have to respond and he is adapting to that, too. But I thought he played well.”
Miami’s defense played without one of its most vocal leaders, Maxi Falcon, for most of the game after the Uruguayan center back left in the fifth minute with an apparent knee injury. He was replaced by Gonzalo Lujan.
“We don’t know yet the severity of Maxi’s injury, he will have to undergo testing,” Mascherano said. “Hopefully it will be as minor as possible, but honestly, he is a strong player and for him to leave the match means that he has something. We hope he can recuperate quickly.”
It was the 20th time the teams faced each other since they debuted in MLS in 2020 and the eighth time they met in a knockout tournament.
“We knew it would be a tough game because three months ago we came here to face them in a playoff game,” Mascherano said. “They played us the same way. They are very strong at home, have had a good start to this season, are playing very well. But we also were able to resist their pressure. It was a game of pressure vs. pressure. It’s an even matchup that will be decided in the second match.”
Miami and Nashville have played in MLS regular season games, playoff games, the U.S. Open Cup, the Leagues Cup and the Champions Cup. Inter Miami holds the edge in the series with nine wins. Nashville has won five times, and the teams tied the other six.
“We know them and they know us, and sometimes when the game finishes nil-nil it’s because both teams were thinking about how to disturb the opponent’s attack,” Mascherano said. “We played them five times in the last three months. You start to know how to stop them and they know sometimes how to stop us. We’ll see next week.”
Last season, Inter Miami won four of five against Nashville, including a 4-0 rout that advanced the team to the knockout round of the MLS playoffs for the first time in club history.
Argentine teammates Messi and Tadeo Allende each had a brace in that game.
Allende, a star of Miami’s MLS Cup championship run, returned to the starting lineup Wednesday night in place of countryman Mateo Silvetti, who started Miami’s 2-1 win at D.C. United over the weekend.
The rest of the Miami Starting XI included St. Clair, right back Facundo Mura, center back Maxi Falcon, center back Micael, left back Noah Allen, midfielder Rodrigo De Paul, midfielder Yannick Bright, midfielder Telasco Segovia, forward German Berterame and Messi.
Mascherano went to his bench in the 72nd minute, replacing Segovia with Silvetti and Mura with Ian Fray.
The return leg of the series is March 18 at 7 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale, the last match Inter Miami will play at its old stadium before the opening of Nu Stadium at Miami Freedom Park April 4, where Miami will face Austin FC in a league game.
The rematch against Nashville will be the first time Inter Miami plays in front of its home fans this season, as the team is playing its first five games on the road to allow for construction to be completed on Nu Stadium.
“It will be a very, very great night for us, so I am asking the fans to come to the stadium because we need them to help us go through to the quarterfinal,” Mascherano said.
In the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup, the away goals rule is used as the first tiebreaker in the two-legged series. If the aggregate score is tied after the second leg, the team with the higher number of away goals scored during regulation time in both matches advances.
Mascherano expected Nashville players and their fans to be highly motivated to win at home against their nemesis.
“It’s a tough, difficult game, as always when we play in Nashville. We know their fans will be putting on the pressure, and above all, we have to keep in mind that they’re a team with blood in their eyes,” Mascherano said Tuesday.
“When you face a rival that we’ve fortunately eliminated and that helped us win the championship last year, and in previous seasons the club has even won finals against them, it’s clear that they’re going to want their revenge.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 8:22 PM.