Lionel Messi, Inter Miami flop out of MLS playoffs, stunned by Atlanta

Lionel Messi’s first MLS playoff debut began with momentum and huge expectations. Their Saturday ended with a stunning upset and a goat screaming.

Making history Top seeds Messi and Inter Miami were eliminated in the first round with a second straight defeat to Atlanta United – who barely made the playoffs with a losing record and negative goal difference.

Messi, who had been quiet after the Game 2 loss, scored his first playoff goal to tie the decisive Game 3 at 2–2. But Atlanta responded; Bartosz Sliz took the lead back with a header in the 76th minute; And the visitors stunned American soccer with a 3-2 upset.

Miami entered these playoffs as the clearest favorites in MLS history. They won Game 1 of the three-game series and seemed certain to advance. They just had to win one of two against an Atlanta team that had won less than a third of its regular season matches – only 10 of 34.

But then, in Game 2, the Herons blew the lead in Atlanta.

Their 2–1 defeat created a “do or die” situation in the third game, Messi’s first in MLS.

Or, at least, that’s how English speakers describe it. In Spanish, there is a similar but different phrase. “Es un partido de matar o morir,” Inter Miami midfielder Federico Redondo said this week. Not “do or die”, but “kill or be killed.”

And, in a shocking twist on Saturday, it was Atlanta that carried out the murder.

The No. 9 seed, which won the play-in game on penalties, faced the early Miami Hurricanes at Chase Stadium. Then, shortly after Matias Rojas’ early goal, Atalanta’s Jamal Thiare punished some sloppy Inter defence. He scored twice in three minutes and at halftime the weaker team took a 2-1 lead.

In the second half, Messi rose to meet the moment – ​​temporarily.

But Atlanta responded.

And at the other end of the field, goalkeeper Brad Guzan, aged 40, made some heroic saves. He fired home a close-range Jordi Alba header. He disappointed Luis Suarez and Messi. He made a total of seven stops. There is no doubt that he was man of the match and man of the match of the series.

Messi and his friends were consistently threatening, but not with the same force they were at times in the GOAT’s first full MLS season. Suárez pounced looking for a penalty but got no call. Messi hit two free kicks over the Atalanta walls. It seemed as if his shoulders were sagging in disappointment.

At the final whistle, with a blank stare, he walked down a tunnel.

Guzan and the guards beat their chests in celebration.

And Miami’s title hopes were dead.

Their loss opens the door for an already lagging Eastern Conference team, which byeed No. 2 seed Columbus Crew last weekend and No. 3 seed FC Cincinnati earlier Saturday.

It’s also a huge loss for MLS, whose playoffs have lost significant luster, and whose leaders have so far failed completely to capitalize on Messi’s presence.

This does not invalidate Miami’s 74 points, the best regular season total in league history. “We celebrated the achievement, because it was something difficult and important,” Messi said. a recent interview,

“But,” he admitted, “we know the real title we want is MLS [Cup],

Now, he may have only one more year to pursue it.

What went wrong for Messi and Inter Miami?

In many ways, Messi and Miami were victims of the randomness of football. He created more chances and better chances in all three games. By a guessThey earned 7.9 expected goals (xG) over the entire series, compared to Atlanta’s 3.84. And if you double an opponent’s xG – especially If you employ the two greatest goal-scorers of all time – most likely, you will win. In fact, with Messi on the field, Miami did not lose a single game like this in the entire regular season.

They lost largely on Saturday as they ran into a raw brick wall – Guzan.

“Their goalkeeper was fantastic. This was the difference in the series. He saved everything and more. “We did a lot of good things, but we also did a lot of very bad things.”

This was not about managerial misconduct. This was no epic Messi choke. This was, most likely, an accidental incident.

However, at the same time, the Herons were troubled by a deficit that plagued them throughout the season. They never found a solid center back pair. And they never had the structure of a foot or a front six to shield their weak defence. So, again and again, they shipped goals.

On Saturday, they were particularly vulnerable without Sergio Busquets, who had not fully recovered from illness or a minor injury. (After missing Game 2, he ultimately played more than 12 minutes in Game 3 off the bench.) They also suffered without 23-year-old midfielder Yannick Bright, who had established himself alongside Busquets, but who missed Game 3. Had missed due to injury.

But he made personal mistakes that had nothing to do with structure. Take the second goal, for example, which originated from the legs of Miami defender David Martínez. He played a late, loose forward pass which was cut out around midfield. Then he didn’t recover and Atlanta took advantage of the same space they were supposed to cover.

These types of misses were a feature of Miami’s season. The opening stroke was a function of building an attacking superteam around Messi. Although they won a record number of points, they were actually the fourth-worst defensive team in the Eastern Conference, Length per FBref xG,

In the regular season, goalkeeper Drake Callender often made saves.

Or, even more often, their porousness didn’t matter because they had Suarez and Messi.

On Saturday, neither of the two statements turned out to be true. And has become the most expensive, most popular team in MLS history.