Messi’s Inter Miami draw with Nashville in first leg of Concacaf Champions Cup round of 16

The team led by Gerardo Martino tried to consolidate its good start to the season, being on the verge of defeat and only able to save a visitor’s equalizer at the beginning of its journey in the most important club tournament in CONCACAF. Meanwhile, the local team, which has yet to win in MLS, delivered the first blow against the Florida team.

The two players who have always been followed at Inter Miami are Messi and Luis Suarez. Argentina and Uruguay are the leaders of a team that wants to win it all in 2024. His quality and experience are vital for the team in the pink shirt and he confirmed this by scoring one goal on his debut in that competition.

From the start, after four minutes, without anesthesia, Nashville played well and Canadian attacker Jacob Schaffenberg scored to make it 1–0., What’s more: They made another very good group action and the profits almost increased in less than 10 minutes. The hosts continued to manage the development of the match against a weak Inter Miami without good functioning in midfield.

Martino decided to include young Argentinian midfielder Federico Redondo as a starter, son of the much-remembered and very talented Fernando. This was the Inter Miami debut for the recent member of the Argentina Under-23 national team that qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. And he almost took the game away too soon, as on 25 minutes he elbowed Schaffenberg in the middle. grounds, so he could be expelled.

And then Schaffenberg looked to make it 2-0 just one minute into the second half, to the joy of the people here and the dismay of all of Miami. But The concession came immediately, with a typical South American connection: after seven minutes a pass from Suárez to Messi and the number 10 put it with his left foot, on the edge of the large area, halfway to the opponent’s right post. . Goalkeeper.

Inter Miami continued to try, but it was not enough and 12 minutes before the end they almost injured Messi, having to expel Canadian defender Lucas Mac Naughton after receiving a strong foul from behind. But due to opposition from rivals the referee did not even warn him. And when looking for an equaliser, Shake Moore scored for the hosts in the 38th minute, but it was ruled out for offside. Already in extra time, Suárez’s head, with the seal of Uruguay, came forward to seal the key 2–2 for his team.,

In these series, the away goal has double the value and Inter Miami scored twice, which means a lot. They recently defeated Orlando City 5–0 in the Florida Classic with excellent performances from Messi and Suarez to take the lead in their conference. Meanwhile, Nashville tied its last game 1-1 against Colorado Rapids and is in ninth place. This time, Messi and Co. managed to secure a valuable draw and are looking forward to reaching the quarter-finals in the home duel in front of their fans next Wednesday.