Messi and Luis Suárez lead the way as Inter Miami beats Nashville

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FORT LAUDERDALE, March 14, (AP): Lionel Messi had a goal and an assist in his return to Inter Miami’s lineup Wednesday night, leading the way in a 3-1 win over Nashville in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup round-of-16 matchup.

Messi found his former Barcelona teammate, Luis Suárez, in stride for a goal that opened the scoring in the eighth minute. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner then added a first-half goal to give Inter Miami an early 2-0 lead.

The Argentine superstar checked out of the match in the 50th minute. It wasn’t immediately clear why Messi subbed out – he had rested in Sunday’s 3-2 loss to Montreal, which is the only game he has missed this season.

Messi was replaced by Robert Taylor, who scored in the 63rd minute to give Inter Miami a 3-0 lead.
Inter Miami advanced to the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals with the win and 5-3 advantage in aggregate goals in the total-goals series.

The teams had tied in the first leg in Nashville last Thursday. Messi scored in regulation, and Suárez scored the tying goal in stoppage time to rally Miami to a 2-2 draw. Messi went down late in regulation of that game when Nashville defender Lukas Macnaughton stepped on his left calf. A trainer checked on Messi, who remained on the pitch.

He had been listed as questionable with a shin injury entering Sunday’s game against Montreal, but head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said after that match that the plan was always to rest Messi for that game.
The rest seemed to bode well for Messi’s performance Wednesday, as he wasted no time making an impact.

He earned a free kick after a foul by Nashville’s Aníbal Godoy just four minutes into the match but had his attempt blocked. The 36-year-old seized his opportunity a few minutes later, using his impressive vision to fit a pass to a streaking Suárez, who sent the ball into the bottom right corner of the net.

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