Lionel Messi had chances at goals time and time again, only to keep being denied. Turns out, all he needed to do was deliver the right pass at the right time.
Jordi Alba turned a pass from Messi into the go-ahead goal in the 60th minute, Luis Suarez also scored and Inter Miami beat Atlanta United 2-1 on Friday night in the opening game of a best-of-three first-round Major League Soccer playoff series.
It was not the easiest of openers for the Supporters' Shield winners and No. 1 overall seed in the MLS Cup playoffs, a team that set a league record with 74 points in the regular season, 34 points ahead of wild-card Atlanta in the standings.
Saba Lobjanidze scored for Atlanta, which got eight saves from goalkeeper Brad Guzan. Game 2 will be Nov. 2 at Atlanta — the last road game of the season, no matter what, for Inter Miami. Game 3, if necessary, will be Nov. 9 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
«It's going to be difficult for us,» Inter Miami coach Gerardo «Tata» Martino said. «It's going to be difficult as this rival has been throughout the season.»
Inter Miami's first-ever home playoff game and Messi's MLS playoff debut was sold out — Messi games almost always are, everywhere in the world — and MLS even had a camera isolated on him throughout the match, streaming that view on TikTok. There were plans to also show the match live on a massive screen in New York's Times Square; that ended up getting called off, but Apple will schedule a viewing of another match there.
Atlanta was the only team to beat Inter Miami when Messi was in the lineup this season, and it was almost as though the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner — and finalist for MLS MVP honors — knew the game wouldn't be easy.
«It gets settled on the field,» Messi said in
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