Messi, Nashville, and a curious contradiction for Inter Miami

16 of the 900 goals in the career of the world’s best soccer player have come against Nashville, the Tennessee club that has been one of Lionel Messi’s victims since 2023.

Even so, the Inter Miami-Nashville relationship is a strange one, or at least the dominance is shared: the Argentine star has been the executioner of The Six Strings, but B.J. Callaghan’s team has also made a habit of making the pink-clad side suffer in tournaments such as the Concacaf Champions Cup.

Nashville pushes Messi to the limit

The harshness of the draw in the first leg of the round of 16 is a reflection of the 2-2 result the two teams also produced in March 2024 at the same venue – Geodis Park.

On that occasion, goals from Luis Suárez and Messi helped cover up the damage caused by Jacob Shaffelburg’s brace, but the second leg was a hurricane.

Unlike the most recent meeting, when Christian Espinoza buried Inter Miami, the return leg of that same tournament ended in a pink upset and a 5-3 aggregate win for the Florida side.

Another of the painful scorelines suffered by the Fort Lauderdale team came in 2023, the year that was blessed by Messi’s arrival in American soccer.

Just months after setting foot in Miami, the Rosario-born star was already playing in his first major final as part of the Leagues Cup.

The rival that never gives in against Inter Miami

What the World Cup champion did not know was that, after opening the scoring in the 57th minute, Fafà Picault would make things difficult and force extra time, sending the match straight to penalties.

After a spotless and grueling shootout in which the only Inter Miami player to miss was Víctor Ulloa, Gerardo Martino’s team at the time finally breathed as champions of the competition.

Among the 900 victims of the No. 10,the following MLS clubs stand out:

• Orlando City, 8 goals
• Atlanta United, 7 goals
• New England Revolution, 7 goals
• Philadelphia Union, 5 goals
• Columbus Crew and CF Montrèal: 4 goals each

But none has been tortured more by Messi’s left foot than Nashville.

That is probably why, as a kind of defense mechanism, the Tennessee side does everything it can to make life difficult, to suffocate Las Garzas until they surrender, just as they did last Wednesday in the Concachampions.

The Six Strings scorer who completed the feat arrived at the club as the marquee signing of the season. Before the campaign began, Christian Espinoza was calm when speaking to the media:

“Inter Miami is the reigning champion, it’s the team everyone is going to want to beat, and we’ll want to be one of those teams too, so we have to be well prepared.

We have to wait for results first before we can talk about possibly facing them in the next round of the Concachampions,” he said on February 13, in response to repeated questions about how he felt ahead of facing Javier Mascherano’s club.

The Argentine spoke wisely and later delivered: Nashville has not lost any of its first five matches (13 points), and the former San Jose Earthquakes player has two goals and two assists in four of his five starts.

It becomes three goals if you include the one on March 18, when he shut out Inter Miami and denied them a place in the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals.

Get closer to the game! Whether you like your soccer of the European variety or that on this side of the pond, our AS USA app has it all. Dive into live coverage, expert insights, breaking news, exclusive videos, and more. Plus, stay updated on NFL, NBA and all other big sports stories as well as the latest in current affairs and entertainment. Download now for all-access coverage, right at your fingertips – anytime, anywhere.

And there’s more: check out our TikTok and Instagram reels for bite-sized visual takes on all the biggest soccer news and insights.