After winning the Supporters’ Shield and setting a new record for the most points in a season, Lionel Messi and Inter Miami are out of the MLS Cup playoffs in the first round following a 3-2 loss to Atlanta United on Saturday. With that loss, the top three seeds in the Eastern Conference have all been knocked out as parity is alive and well in Major League Soccer.
Early on, the Herons may have thought that it would be smooth sailing when Matias Rojas opened the scoring in the 17th minute but that lead would only last for two minutes. Atlanta United striker Jamal Thiare scored a quickfire brace in the first half to give the Five Stripes the lead going into halftime. Brad Guzan’s saves were critical, but interim manager Rob Valentino’s team has had Miami’s number all season.
In now five meetings with the Herons between the regular season and playoffs, Atlanta United have won three matches, drawn one and only lost once. Messi did everything he could to bring Miami back into the game, scoring a collectors item of a goal with his head but it wouldn’t be enough. When a player went down due to injury in the box, Inter Miami were petitioning for the match to be stopped but Atlanta United kept moving forward for Bartosz Slisz to score the go-ahead header in the 76th minute. Assisted by Pedro Amador, who now has an assist in every match of the playoffs so far for Atlanta United, it was quite a way for Miami to go out.
With stars who have been there and done that such as Messi, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez, and Jordi Alba, losing due to not playing to the whistle is quite a way to fall. It will now be a long offseason ahead for Tata Martino and the squad as despite winning the Supporters’ Sheild for the second-ever trophy in club history, the Herons failed to win any knockout competition that they were involved in this season.
