Inter Miami beat Atlanta United 2-1 on Friday in what was Lionel Messi’s Major League Soccer (MLS) playoff debut.
It was two of his former Barcelona teammates who got the goals, with Luis Suárez opening the scoring in the second minute and Jordi Alba’s long-range strike on the hour mark sealing the victory, with Messi himself providing the assist.
Saba Lobzhanidze had equalized for Atlanta in the 39th minute, but the stunning 25-yard effort from Inter Miami’s left back provided the decisive goal.
The win gives Miami a one-game lead in the best-of-three first round series of the MLS playoffs, with Game 2 being played on November 2 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“It’s not easy to find fullbacks who are so decisive, who contribute so much to the offensive game of the team – Dani Alves, Cafu, Marcelo, Roberto Carlos, they’re all at that level,” Miami head coach Gerardo Martino said afterwards, per MLS, about Alba’s impact on the team.
“Technically, he has a quality that is very rare in a wide defender, and is better when he understands where Luis and Leo are and can find them, and how they can find him, if they can find Jordi. For sure, it is difficult to find a player who plays in his position and is as decisive.”
Although Messi didn’t find the back of the net, the Argentine was prominently involved throughout the game at Chase Stadium, contributing the assist for Alba’s game-winning goal and troubling the Atlanta goal consistently.
The 37-year-old drew numerous saves from Atlanta’s goalkeeper Brad Guzan, as well as striking the post midway through the first half.
His assist for Alba’s second-half strike – Alba’s fifth goal of the season – was Messi’s 17th this year.
The victory was the perfect start to the postseason for Miami which enters with plenty of pressure riding on its shoulders. Not only does it have a star-studded squad laden with veteran talent, but it entered the playoffs as the No. 1 overall seed after a successful regular season where it lost just four times on the way to 74 points, the most in the league.
“It was a match where what I liked the most was the control we had on the field for almost the entire game,” Martino said afterwards, per Inter Miami. “We didn’t make many mistakes that would allow the opponent to break out into space.
“We had five clear chances in the first half, and one of them came very close to the post. We were patient. I believe that if it weren’t for Brad (Guzan)’s performance, the match should have ended with a clear difference.”
Atlanta had advanced to this stage of the MLS playoffs after beating Montreal on penalties in the wild card round.