Lionel Messi set up an early goal ahead of Inter Miami CF’s 5-3 CONCACAF Champions Cup aggregate victory over Nashville SC on Wednesday night as they advanced to the quarterfinals of the regional club tournament.
The teams were tied 2-2 on aggregate after the first leg in Nashville, but Luis Suarez scored after a fine combination with Lionel Messi, before the former Barcelona star scored an own goal with a superb finish from the middle. penalty area to give Miami a two-goal cushion.
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Messi was on the field to start the second half, but Miami coach Gerardo Martino brought on Robert Taylor five minutes after the restart. It’s unclear why Messi was rested in Sunday’s 3-2 MLS loss to Montreal, especially since he was pulled early in the second half.
Martino said after the match that Leo has a muscle strain in his right leg. We do not want to take any chances with Lionel Messi. We tried to see if he could last a little longer after half time, so we took him out.
It was Lionel Messi’s fourth game with a goal, bringing his total to five goals and four assists in five games for Miami this season.
The home side effectively put the game out of reach just after the hour mark, though, when Suarez curled in a perfect cross from the right and Taylor pounced on it and made it 3-0 with a powerful curling header. .
Sam Surridge scored the consolation goal for Nashville on Shaq Moored’s cross in second-half stoppage time.
Miami will play the winner of the Round of 16 matchup between Monterrey and FC Cincinnati in the CCC quarterfinals starting April 2. It will play DC United away on March 16.
Lionel Messi is expected to play at least some part in Argentina’s friendlies against El Salvador and Costa Rica later this month, as the World Cup champions prepare to defend their Copa America title when the United States host the CONMEBOL Cup competition this summer. .
The Miami star was listed as questionable with a shin injury in Sunday’s game against Montreal, but Martino said after that match that the plan was always to rest Messi for that game.
The rest seemed fine with Messi’s performance on Wednesday, as he wasted no time making an impact.
He earned a free kick just four minutes into the match after fouling Nashville’s Anibal Godoy, but his effort was blocked. The 36-year-old seized the opportunity minutes later, using his impressive vision to fit a pass to the streaking Suarez, who sent the ball into the bottom right of the net.
Messi took a pass from Diego Gomez to score from the penalty area before Taylor scored Miami’s third, the fans chanting his name.
Nashville had a chance late in the second half when Hani Mukhtar sent a shot past Miami’s defense into the back of the net.
Lionel Messi will face head coach Gary Smith’s Nashville club for the fourth time on Wednesday after joining Inter Miami and the MLS last summer.
They played football three draws before Wednesday – the first of which came in a 10-9 penalty kick win by Miami in the 2023 League Cup final. Messi scored early in regulation and converted the first shot on a penalty kick as Miami won its first trophy in club history.
It’s a never-ending puzzle, Smith said before Wednesday’s match. You try and create a group to limit what he can do. He proved at the best level of his career that no matter how good you are defensively or how organized you are, individual ability is always going to find a way.
Inter Miami CF advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup thanks to a masterful performance by Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
The superstar forwards were at their best in Wednesday’s 3-1 leg 2 rout of Nashville SC at Chase Stadium, exerting their influence on a 5-3 aggregate victory after a 2-2 comeback draw in leg 1 at GEODIS Park.
The legend’s mark was felt from the start as Lionel Messi put Suarez past Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis to set up Suarez. Messi added to the rising start in the 23rd minute, hitting a patent left-footed strike after a superb individual run by Paraguay teammate Diego Gomez created a chance.
Suarez capped it off with a pinpoint assist on Robert Taylor’s 63rd-minute dagger, sending Inter Miami to meet MLS Supporters’ Shield winners FC Cincinnati or Liga MX powerhouse CF Monterrey in the CCC quarterfinals.
Two sacrifices for Inter Miami: Nashville pulled a 93rd-minute consolation goal through Sam Surridge, who tapped home a grass-cutting cross from Shaq Moore. And Messi came off in the 50th minute for Taylor, along with head coach Tata Martino.