Lionel Messi & Inter Miami rout their way back to business | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

Inter Miami’s clash with the New York Red Bulls was not yet half over, and Lionel Messi looked exhausted.

Red Bulls youngster Mohammed Sofo had just scored the fourth goal of an end-to-end first half on a rainy, muggy night at Chase Stadium. Messi dropped his hands to his knees, holding the position in front of the Herons’ bench for what felt like a long time, seemingly feeling the combined strain of Miami’s draining run of eight games in April thanks to their run to the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals.

Yet the Argentine legend dug deep and found another gear after the intermission, combining beautifully with Telasco Segovia to fire home his fourth league goal of 2025. The strike clinched a timely 4-1 win, and delighted Patrick Mahomes and other luminaries on hand for this game and the Miami Grand Prix during a star-studded week in South Florida.

Back to winning ways

Messi’s resilience epitomizes the task facing IMCF after their humbling ConcaChampions exit at the hands of the incredible Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday, the nadir of a bruising fortnight in which the previously undefeated Herons lost three straight games and saw their CCC dreams slip away.

“We needed this victory after three defeats, and to have some very good feelings again,” head coach Javier Mascherano said in Spanish postgame.

“In the first half, we had an effectiveness that we haven't had in several games, not just that we had a lot of [goalscoring] situations.

"And then we attempted in the second half with the last post entries, to manage the ball better, to control the match better, not to be as direct, because the last 15, 20 minutes of the first half, we lost possession of the ball, they grew and they progressed on the field, and we were trying to avoid giving them the control of the game.”

More tests to come

What felt like a comfortable victory by full time was perhaps not quite as easy as it looked, considering the intense emotions of their midweek heartbreak and the storm of doubt and criticism that followed the Whitecaps’ unexpectedly dominant dispatching of Messi & Co.

“Clearly, in everything that we compete, we try to get to the highest position possible. We have shown this in the Champions [Cup],” said Mascherano. “Sometimes we have to understand that you have an opponent; the opponent plays. Sometimes the opponent does better, like Vancouver did.

“Sometimes public opinion is to analyze the results. We analyze more than the results: the content, the why,” he added. “I understand that there's a lot of frustration. The one who is the most frustrated is me, is the coaching staff and the players not being able to go to the final.”

Returning to winning ways ahead of another busy month may prove crucial for steadying the Rosanegra ship for the rigors still to come. Miami will play seven matches in May, including long trips to Minnesota and San Jose next week before a Rivalry Week duel with Orlando City, and fixtures against Eastern Conference powers Philadelphia and Columbus later in the month.

“We've had a tough week. It was important to end the games that we've had – a ton of games – on a good note going into the couple off days that we're going to get before next week's road trip,” homegrown defender Noah Allen told MLS Season Pass after the final whistle. “So very important to get these three points that can sort our confidence back.”

Moving forward

Over the years, Champions Cup hangovers have become an infamous hazard for MLS sides who make deep runs. So every point, every positive result matters for Miami, particularly in light of their looming participation in the expanded Club World Cup on home soil this summer, a more or less unprecedented challenge.

With so many eyes on the IMCF project, and such high expectations for Messi & Friends, every setback provokes palpable disappointment, even outrage, around the club. That won’t change any time soon. Yet when the dust settles after Matchday 11, the Herons will have 21 points from 10 league matches (6W-1L-3D) and sit just three points back of East leaders Columbus Crew with a game in hand.

“We will try to continue to do our best. We will try to learn from our mistakes. And we will continue saying that this team can compete, and we are going to face anything that comes before us,” said Mascherano. “Today we're here to focus on MLS, trying to get to the top of this conference, and then we'll see what happens with Club World Cup, Leagues Cup.

"The most important game, I've said from the beginning, is the next one, and so we'll be focused on next weekend.”

WATCH: Lionel Messi, Miami bounce back in a big way