After winning the Leagues Cup in his first season with Inter Miami, Lionel Messi is just three points away from winning his second title with “Las Garzas” and securing the top spot in the MLS playoffs.
Messi’s first chance will be tonight when they take on Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field Stadium, the team that sits second in the Eastern Conference, eight points behind Inter Miami and with a game in hand.
Lionel Messi scores the goal to tie
If they cannot secure first place tonight and win the Supporters’ Shield, Messi and company will then have two more games: away against Toronto FC and home against New England Revolution, although in that case they would also have to see what results the Crew get.
If he wins this title, Lionel Messi would add an impressive 46 titles and would be 11 ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the active player closest to matching the performance of the Argentine crack.
Between Messi and Cristiano are the players with the most titles, although all of them are already retired: Dani Alves (Brazil) 43, Andres Iniesta (Spain) and Gerard Pique (Spain) 38 and Brazilian Maxwell, who has 37.
Messi’s enormous influence
Beyond this new title that would add to Messi’s list of honors, there is no doubt about the enormous influence that the arrival of the captain of Argentina’s national team has had on Inter Miami, which would be the second time they have reached the MLS playoffs.
Before Messi donned the Inter Miami jersey, the team, which began competing in 2020, had been ranked 19th (out of 26 teams), was 20th out of 27 teams in 2021, the following season was the only time they qualified for the playoffs and lost in the first round to Orlando City.
In 2023, the year Messi arrived, the team finished 27th out of 29, although that was when they won the Leagues Cup.