Lionel Messi got a goal and an assist as Inter Miami sealed a 3-1 win against Nashville in their second leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16 fixture, in Florida on Thursday. Luis Suarez opened the scoring for Miami in the eighth minute, capping off an excellent team move. Jordi Alba delivered a nice pass to Messi, who was in a tight space. The Argentine genius put in a stunning through ball to Suarez, who converted it with ease to make it 1-0.
15 minutes later, Messi made it 2-0. The former Barcelona player received a pass from Diego Gomez, and then fired it home to make it 2-0. Meanwhile, Robert Taylor (63′) got a second-half goal as Miami sealed a 3-1 win. Sam Surridge scored a late consolation goal for Nashville.
Despite the win, Miami will have plenty to worry about due to Messi’s injury. Messi was subbed off in the 49th-minute of the match, and is in doubt to feature in their upcoming weekend fixture against DC United.
Speaking after the match, Miami head coach Tata Martino said, “He is overloaded in the right posterior. We don’t want to run a risk. We tried to see if he could go for a little longer, but it was bothering him, so we preferred for him to just get out of the game.”
“I don’t want to risk it, but I imagine that for Saturday’s game, he is not going to be available. We’ll have an evaluation and see some imaging, and we will see how he progresses,” he further added.
Meanwhile, Nashville head coach Gary Smith had special praise for Messi. Speaking after the match, he said, “He’s such a huge influence on the rest of the group. Yes, they have other very good players. But there is no one that can do what he can do.”
“There is an infinite amount of trust in his decisions, his techniques, his ability. As soon as he gets on the ball everyone else goes into gear. And that’s a real problem. That’s a problem for individuals playing against him, it’s a problem for the midfield players and defenders, because they’re now seeing runners that they wouldn’t normally see,” he added.
