Lionel Messi, Inter Miami driven to send Nashville packing

Inter Miami will look to do what it could not do a year ago in the first round when they face host Nashville SC on Saturday night in Game 2 of their best-of-three MLS Cup Playoff series.

Inter Miami hold a 1-0 lead and will look to close out Nashville, following a dominant 3-1 victory in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Oct. 24.

Nashville is winless in its past 10 matches against Inter Miami, but will try to even the series and send it back to a decisive third game in Fort Lauderdale on Nov. 8. Nashville has not advanced past the first round since 2021.

This is the same spot Inter Miami found themselves in their first-round series against Atlanta United last year before blowing the one-game advantage with back-to-back losses.

Miami scored only five goals in that series against Atlanta, but already had three last week, including two from Lionel Messi.

"There were moments where the team competed at a very high level, but it's also true that we were irregular, defensively, where we conceded a lot of goals, and that's something we still are lacking," Messi told Apple TV this week.

What stood out in Game 1 for Inter Miami wasn't so much the scoring as the job their players did in limiting Nashville stars Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar, who scored the club's lone goal, but not until the final minute of stoppage time with the outcome determined. Goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo also continued to excel in a starting role since taking over for Oscar Ustari late in the regular season.

Getting Surridge going is a priority for Nashville -- Surridge (24 goals) tied for second behind Messi (29 goials) in the Golden Boot race -- as is attacking more effectively as it did in the first half in Nashville on Oct. 18. In that game, Nashville led 2-1 at halftime before Messi (hat trick) sparked Miami to a four-goal second half.

"In playoff games, the intensity ramps up," Nashville coach B.J. Callaghan said. "Everybody is fighting for the win and we have to be able to match the intensity of these games. That's the expectation of this team when we come home at Geodis Park."