Messi shines in return to MLS play
The eight-time Balon d'Or winner scored the game-winning goal and assisted Luis Suarez on another as Inter Miami defeated lowly Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1 Saturday.
After missing two matches and most of a third with a hamstring injury, Lionel Messi came off the bench at halftime Saturday with Inter Miami and the L.A. Galaxy tied 1-1. The Herons captain scored Miami’s second goal and assisted Luis Suarez on another, leading Inter Miami to a 3-1 Major League Soccer win at Chase Stadium. CREDIT: Major League Soccer
Concerns remain, but win lifts Miami into fifth place
A win is a win is a win. Inter Miami CF got two second-half goal contributions Saturday from “super sub” Lionel Messi to ensure a 3-1 home win against the Los Angeles Galaxy and move into fifth place in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Division.
Messi returned to action in the second half against Los Angeles after missing the Herons’ two previous matches and most of their Leagues Cup match against Necaxa with a hamstring injury.
The Galaxy is struggling through a potential first-to-worst season this year after lifting the MLS Cup in 2024. Greg Vanney’s side parted with several impact players from the team that won L.A.’s sixth league championship in December and has been without several key players due to injuries. The Galacticos have just three wins and seven draws for 16 points after 26 matches, the worst record in MLS with just eight matches remaining.
Inter Miami (13-5-6, 45 points) started Sunday fifth in the Eastern Conference and eighth overall after 24 matches. The Herons set an MLS record with 74 points last season and could contend for a second Supporters Shield, awarded to the team with the league’s best record, in 2025.
Even without Messi, Los Garzas should have beaten its visitors convincingly — the Herons needed to beat the Galaxy convincingly after being so thoroughly humiliated a week earlier by an admittedly very good Orlando City team.
Miami has as much or more talent than any team in MLS and should be competitive with or without Messi on the pitch. In 2024, when the Herons set the league’s record for points in a season, the captain missed 15 MLS matches; the Herons managed 10 wins and three draws, including an 8-1-0 stretch between June 16 and Sept. 1, without Messi. Miami had a better winning percentage without Messi (66.67) than with him (63.16).
In 2025, the World Cup hero has missed just four league matches, but the Herons are 1-2-1, a winning percentage of just 25.
Mascherano needs to use his whole roster
What’s the difference? I wish I knew, I’d be coaching soccer instead of writing about it, but I do have a guess. Gerardo “Tata” Martino, 62, came to Inter Miami in 2023 nearing the end of an illustrious career; he coached the Argentine, Mexican and Paraguayan national teams; he coached top clubs on three continents, including Barcelona in Spain’s La Liga and Atlanta United in MLS, lifting the MLS Cup in 2018.
Martino understood how to use his roster. With Messi out with various injuries and long stints with Argentina’s national team, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez, Julian Gressel, Robert Taylor and Leonardo Campana thrived. They were confident in their roles and in their abilities; they knew how to play without Messi. The latter three are no longer wearing Pink & Black and, to this point, neither Alba nor Suarez has risen to the challenge as they did during the memorable summer of 2024.
That may be because first year Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano, 41, hadn’t coached at the club level before arriving in South Florida, he’s never had to prepare a team to play more than 40 matches across a relentlessly grinding calendar. Masche has struggled making timely substitutions and developing a regular roster rotation, steps that build players’ confidence in a system. He values young players who can play multiple positions, but fails to prioritize their roles, which leads to uncertainty and frustration.
Mascherano is a young coach and, with a three-year contract, has time to grow into his role. His team is competitive, especially with Messi in the lineup, but the Herons will be a good, but not great, club until Mascherano learns how to use his full roster.