Lionel Messi, Inter Miami can clinch MLS regular season title with win in Columbus

The ultimate goal for Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates this season is obvious: to hoist the MLS Cup as the confetti rains down following the league's championship match on Dec. 7.

A major step toward that end for the GOAT and coach Tata Martino's squad could come on Wednesday night, when the Herons meet the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew in Ohio's capital with a chance to claim the 2024 regular season title (live coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, FOX Deportes and AppleTV).

MLS Cup remains the most prestigious piece of silverware in American soccer. But the Supporters Shield isn't far behind. And securing it with two games to play would be a coup for both Messi and Miami, which sat dead last in the Eastern Conference standings when the Argentine living legend arrived in North America a little more than a year ago.

Clad in the club's distinctive pink, Messi — along with former Barcelona running buddies Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets — promptly led Inter on a storybook run to the inaugural Leagues Cup triumph by besting 46 other top-flight teams from the United States, Canada and Mexico's vaunted Liga MX.

The King then added another crown, the 45th of his unparalleled career, when he helped Argentina win the 2024 Copa América at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium over the summer. Yet the Supporters Shield would represent his first exclusively MLS trophy, a significant achievement even if the priority this fall is clearly winning MLS Cup in front of their own supporters at Chase Stadium. By finishing first overall, the Herons would guarantee home field advantage throughout the postseason.

It's fitting that the club's first opportunity to clinch the Supporters Shield will come in Columbus, a city that has