Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami received a reality check. Rayados de Monterrey showed that Mexican soccer is still above the United States MLS. The 3-1 in the rematch this Wednesday and 5-2 overall in the series, nuances aside, was unappealable for what was seen inside (and outside) the court during the 180 minutes that lasted the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup. Only the Columbus Crew – the current MLS champion – was able to get into the semi-finals of these Concachampions, where they will also be Pachuca y America.
In the popular imagination, the change in format of the maximum club competition at the continental level – it began to be played in direct elimination and without a group stage – had been established that it was ‘set up’ for the Fort Lauderdale star team. Around Messi’s arrival there was the link with the supposed need for his presence in the Club World Cup 2025the first that will have 32 clubs and will be played, of course, in the United States.
But the elimination this Wednesday in Monterrey, in Inter Miami’s first excursion to Mexico, leaves Las Garzas needing another way to be at that ecumenical event. A quota for the host country still needs to be determined.which is discounted will be for the champion of the current MLS season, which Argentine coach Gerardo Tata Martino was in charge of highlighting was the club’s top objective on several occasions.
This Wednesday’s rematch in the stadium located in the municipality of Guadalupe, before a crowd in the stands, was marked by the previous statements, the crosses in the during and the impotence of Messi and his sides in this new challenge as Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez y Jordi Albawho was expelled.
That’s why they booed and whistled at Messi in Monterrey. For that and also for that great goal at the Lusail stadium for the World Cup in Qatar, a wound that the Mexicans evidently have open and for which La Pulga is completely responsible.
We must not forget how this story began for Las Garzas. With Messi in the box at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, they led 1-0 until 70 minutes. The childhood expulsion of David Ruiz and the comeback of Rayados made La Pulga explode, who starred in a spicy cross in the locker room area revealed by the coaching staff of Fernando Ortíz, one of the established Argentine coaches in the Aztec country.
And this Wednesday, with the hope of an unforgettable turn on the scoreboard, goalkeeper Drake Callender was in charge of burying any option. He wanted to come out playing, he gave the ball to Brandon Vázquez and the American forward, including a fake, did not forgive that fatal blopper.
Messi had two chances in the first half, one just before Rayados’ 1-0 and the other at the end. At 25 minutes, it was bounced inside the area and, in a hurry, he took the left foot shot with little distance that he could not control and sent it over the crossbar of the goal defended by the Argentine Esteban Andrada, who later contained a pirouette, assisted by Suárez .
It was another Argentine, Gonzalo Berterame, who sealed history with a formidable, unstoppable right hand, which was followed by Jesús Gallardo’s header.
The Paraguayan youth Diego Gómez put a discount, after Messi’s cross, which only served for the statistics.
Inter Miami’s first international excursion barely allowed it to pass one shift, that of Nashville. Monterrey placed him on the soccer map, making him understand that if he wants to compete at an international level, not only will the pool of names be enough for him, but he needs a team that Gerardo Martino still has a hard time finding. It was the fifth game without winning. In short, a bath of reality.