Lionel Messi made the most of being released from Argentina’s friendly against Venezuela played on Friday (10).
He scored twice in Inter Miami’s 4-0 win over Atlanta Utd this Saturday (11), during the regular MLS season.
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And, at 38 years old, he took the lead as the competition’s top scorer in front of his home crowd.
He reached 26 goals, surpassing Denis Bouanga’s 24, who is missing from Los Angeles FC as he tries to help Gabon qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Only ex-Barça players could score
Messi opened the scoring at the 39th minute.
The sequence continued with a (beautiful) long pass from the number 10 to Alba, who is playing his final matches before retirement (52’).
Luisito Suárez scored the third (61’).
And Messi scored his 26th goal of the current MLS season in the 87th minute – after a pass from Alba.
It was the first time in the history of the tournament’s regular season that a player scored more than one goal in nine games.
Already guaranteed in the playoffs, Inter Miami reached 62 points in the Eastern Conference.
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They remain in third place with only the match against Nashville SC left next Saturday (18).
Meanwhile, eliminated Atlanta remains with 27 points and in second-to-last place.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.
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