Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi reached a milestone, but Nashville SC got a ticket to the next round of the Concacaf Champions Cup.
In a 1-1 draw, Messi got the 900th goal of his career, but a second-half striker from Nashville’s Cristian Espinoza sent Inter Miami packing on away goals after the second leg of their round of 16 matchup on Wednesday night.
The teams tied both legs of the matchup, after a 0-0 game in Nashville started the series last week. Away goals were the tiebreaker, meaning Nashville will move on to the tournament’s quarter-finals – denying the reigning MLS champions’ bid for another trophy, and one that was prioritized by the club hierarchy at the start of the season.
“Our goal and our club ambition is to compete against the best of North America, Central American and the Caribbean,” Nashville coach BJ Callaghan said. “That’s what this tournament does, brings the best of the best together … If you want to become an elite team and an elite club, you need to be able to perform in a prestigious tournament like this.”
Espinoza scored on a wild play where he was in the right place at the right time.
Nashville’s Alex Muyl took a shot that was blocked by a sliding Inter Miami defender Gonzalo Luján. The ball ricocheted off Luján and into the air, the topspin carrying it toward the goal mouth and Inter Miami goalkeeper Dayne St Clair had to scramble to his feet in order to punch it away.
He didn’t punch it far. St Clair’s momentum carried him into the net, where three other Inter Miami defenders also wound up, and Espinoza had an easy goal to pull the match even.
It was Inter Miami’s first match at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale since last season’s MLS Cup final – and, if all stays according to plan, it may be the club’s last match in the facility as well. Messi’s team doesn’t play a home MLS match until 4 April, when they are scheduled to open their new stadium near Miami International Airport.
And if this was the Fort Lauderdale finale, it wasn’t a loss – but probably felt like one.
Messi scored his 900th career goal in the seventh minute for a 1-0 lead. It was quintessential Messi, with him making something out of very little.
He was well defended when he took the pass with his back to the net, about 12 yards from the goal mouth and with other players creating more traffic in front of the goal.
No problem.
He turned and his left foot sent the ball skittering across the wet grass on a rainy night in South Florida, actually getting it through the legs of Nashville defender Jeisson Palacios and past the left arm of diving goalkeeper Brian Schwake for the opening goal.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the only other men’s player with more than 900 goals – at least, by official counts. It took Ronaldo about 100 more matches to get to the milestone than Messi needed; Ronaldo was 39 when he got to 900 goals in September 2024, while Messi doesn’t turn 39 until June.
Callaghan paid tribute after the game, saying, “900 goals, congratulations to him. He’s the best.”
