Concacaf Champions Cup
Messi mesmerizes as Inter Miami march on
The Argentine star scored a brace as The Herons came from behind to beat LAFC as they progress to the semifinals of the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup.
There was a small sense of history repeating itself as Lionel Messi put two goals past Hugo Lloris, just as he did at the final in Qatar to help Argentina win the World Cup in 2022. The Inter Miami captain led his team’s comeback against Los Angeles FC with a double to set up an all MLS semi-final of the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup where they will play Vancouver.
Wednesday’s match didn’t get off to a great start for the Fort Lauderdale side as the visitors found the net in the ninth minute as Aaron Long was alert to fire the black and gold ahead to put LA ahead 0-2 on aggregate.
As the half wore on, Inter Miami began to find their groove with Messi a constant source of danger. Messi had a goal ruled out in the 31st minute but were finally on level terms on the night just three minutes later when Luis Suárez fed the Argentine who unleashed a ferocious left footed to level the game on the night.
Messi turns it around
Just after the hour mark, Inter Miami eventually saw their pressure pay off as a cross caught out the LAFC rearguard and sailed into the net.
As the clock ticked towards the 90 minutes mark and with the game at 2-1, LAFC were heading towards the semi-final by virtue of the away goal which is still employed in CONCACAF competitions.
After previously disallowing an earlier Luis Suarez header in the 69th minute, with seven minutes on the clock, VAR was called upon after a LAFC handball from Delgado and this time a spot kick for the home side was awarded.
Despite the pressure involved, Messi kept his nerve and slotted past Hugo Lloris to send the side from Florida through to the semi-final of the 2025 CONCACAF Champions League where they will face Vancouver Whitecaps over two legs.
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- 19 Ustari
- 37 Maximiliano Falcón
- 57 Marcelo Weigandt
- 18 Alba
- 32 Noah Allen
- 21 Tadeo Allende (86')
- 42 Yannick Bright (55')
- 55 Federico Redondo
- 8 Telasco Segovia (86')
- 9 Luis Suárez (94')
- 10 Messi x2
- Substitutes
- 24 Julian Gressel
- 14 Héctor Martínez
- 6 Tomás Avilés (86')
- 7 Patrice Picault (94')
- 81 Santiago Morales
- 17 Ian Fray
- 1 Drake Callender
- 22 Leo Afonso
- 29 Allen Obando
- 30 Benjamín Cremaschi (55')
- 2 Gonzalo Luján (86')
- 16 Robert Taylor
- 1 Lloris
- 24 Ryan Hollingshead
- 33 Aaron Long
- 5 Marlon Santos
- 14 Palencia (86')
- 11 Timothy Tillman
- 8 Marky Delgado
- 6 Igor Jesus
- 27 Nathan Ordaz (86')
- 99 Denis Bouanga
- 22 Cengiz Ünder (74')
- Substitutes
- 25 Chanot
- 29 Artem Smoliakov
- 12 Thomas Hasal
- 30 David Martínez
- 4 Eddie Segura (74')
- 18 David Ochoa
- 77 Adrian Wibowo
- 91 Nkosi Burgess
- 43 Adam Saldaña
- 20 Yeboah
- 80 Odin Thiago Holm (86')
- 9 Giroud (86')
Substitutions
Benjamín Cremaschi (55', Yannick Bright), Eddie Segura (74', Cengiz Ünder), Olivier Giroud (86', Nathan Ordaz), Odin Holm (86', Sergi Palencia), Tomás Avilés (86', Telasco Segovia), Gonzalo Luján (86', Tadeo Allende), Fafá Picault (94', Luis Suárez)
Goals
0-1, 8': Aaron Long, 1-1, 34': Messi, 2-1, 60': Federico Redondo, 3-1, 83': Messi
Cards
Referee: César Arturo Ramos Palazuelos
VAR Referee: Erick Yair Miranda Galindo, Guillermo Pacheco Larios
Ryan Hollingshead (29',Yellow), Yannick Bright (52',Yellow), Maximiliano Falcón (70',Yellow), Marlon Santos (88',Yellow), Eddie Segura (92',Yellow)