Messi did Messi.
'GOAT' Lionel Messi led Inter Miami to the Eastern Conference finals of the U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup with a one-man show. Inter Miami won 4-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoff against FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio on the 24th (Korea time). Inter Miami will play the Eastern Conference finals with the winners of Philadelphia Union and New York City FC on the 1st of next month.
The main character was definitely Messi. Messi, who played as the central striker on the day, played the role of 'Pulse Nine', which opened its heyday of Barcelona. Messi, who is a partner of Matteo Silvetti and Tadeo Allende, showed the best performance by focusing on his unique creative play. Messi added three second-half assists following the winning goal in the first half of the day, creating all the goals Inter Miami scored on the day.
Messi finished with a header in the 19th minute of the first half when Silvetti crossed from the left. Messi, who scored the first goal, led his team to victory with a pass show in the second half. Helped Silvetti with consecutive goals in the 12th minute and Allende in the 17th and 29th minutes. Messi is rated out of 10 by SofaScore. On this day alone, he added four offensive points, setting a new record for the most offensive points in the history of the MLS Cup PO with six goals and six assists. Messi previously scored five goals and three assists in three games in the first round of the PO.
Messi has shown remarkable productivity in PO, and has also set a huge career record of 1300. According to OneFootball, Messi scored 896 goals-404 assists in 1,135 career matches for the club and the national team. Messi scored 941 offensive points for Barcelona, 66 for Paris Saint-Germain, 117 for Inter Mai Mae, and 176 for Argentina's national team. He reached 1,300 heights for the first time, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nasr), who has 1,213. It's the first time in history.
Messi is looking to win his first MLS Cup. After joining Miami in 2023, Messi won the League Cup in the 2023 season and the Supporters' Shield in the 2024 season, but he has not yet won the MLS Cup. They also faced Atlanta United in the first round of the PO last season, but they were eliminated with one win and two losses.
Messi has gained more strength this season. He dominated the top scorer and assist with 29 goals and 19 assists. Inter Miami, which ranked third in the East of the regular league (19 wins, 8 draws, 7 losses) with Messi's performance, defeated Nashville 2-1 in the first round of the PO. As expected, Messi's one-man show stood out. Inter Miami, which beat Cincinnati, is close to winning the MLS Cup. In particular, LA FC in the West, which was considered Inter Miami's strongest competitor, was eliminated in the Western Conference semifinals, losing to the Vancouver Whitecaps. Son Heung-min turned the game to 2-2 origin with a fantastic multi-goal, but unfortunately, he lost the game due to a missed penalty shootout. 'Son Heung-min vs. Messi' was not achieved in the end.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
