Inter Miami’s wildest dreams would climax in the summer of 2025, the last of Lionel Messi’s contract. They’d culminate on a shiny new stage, the Club World Cup, against and among European superpowers. They’d amplify Messi-mania, and lift American soccer to new heights, or at least that was the vision.
But they fizzled Wednesday night in the north of Mexico. Fantasies became frustration. Lofty ambitions all but disappeared a full 14 months shy of becoming reality. Messi and Miami got pummeled, 3-1, by Monterrey at a bumping Estadio BBVA; and lost in the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals, 5-2 on aggregate.
They lost because Messi missed the first leg of two with an injury. They lost because his overmatched teammates made mistakes. They lost for dozens of reasons that disappointed fans will dissect for days to come.
But the overarching reason was rather simple. Even a GOAT couldn’t close the still-wide gap between Major League Soccer and the best of Mexico’s Liga MX.
Monterrey was better. Monterrey is better. On Wednesday, the evidence was everywhere.
It raced up and down the left flank, and bustled through midfield. It nestled into the space that Messi typically enjoys in MLS, but that closed up a half-second sooner than usual. It blinded Inter Miami over the first 20 minutes of a one-sided second half, when Rayados, as Monterrey is known, took control and drove home their dagger.
A goalkeeper’s gaffe had gifted them a 1-0 lead on the night.
It was those dominant 20 minutes, though, that broke Miami. Germán Berterame blasted Monterrey into a 4-1 aggregate lead. Six minutes after Berterame’s belter, Jesús Gallardo made it 5-1.
And that’s when the olés began ringing all around a stadium known as “El Gigante de Acero,” The Steel Giant.
“That is where the tournament ended for us,” Miami coach Tata Martino said.
That’s when Luis Suarez started hurling words at an innocent referee.
That’s when Jordi Alba’s frustration boiled over, into one yellow card, then a second and a red.
Messi, meanwhile, looked defeated. By the 90th minute, after assisting Miami’s lone goal, he seemed resigned to his fate. He greeted the final whistle with respectful handshakes and hugs, signs that he’d been beaten by a superior team.
For most of the 90, he’d fought with his customary fire — often…