Lionel Messi made an immediate impact in his debut start for Inter Miami, scoring two goals in the span of 14 minutes to drive his new team to a 3-0 lead over Atlanta United in the Leagues Cup. Inter Miami’s victory over Atlanta United gave the Argentine superstar his first opportunity to play for Inter Miami.

In the 43rd minute of the match, Robert Taylor supplied one of the highlights of the game with a curling strike into the right corner of the net.

Messi was dominant in every other aspect of the game; the 36-year-old forward not only scored two goals of his own in the exciting first half but also assisted Taylor on his incredible goal that won the game for Barcelona.

It was the first time in Inter Miami’s history that they went into the halftime break with a lead of three goals or more.

 

 

The first goal scored by Messi occurred in the eighth minute and was assisted by a lovely feed from Sergio Busquets. Messi finished the goal by tapping the ball in after his original attempt hit the post.

Messi was able to double his tally rather quickly as well. He did this by creating space for himself in the middle of the field, then passing the ball to Taylor on the left wing. Taylor then played the ball back into the middle of the field for another colleague of Messi’s.

Messi finished his second goal with a composed shot into the back of the net, offering yet another highlight after scoring the game-winning goal in his first game earlier in the week.

After coming on as a substitute in the 54th minute of Friday’s 2-1 victory over the Mexican club Cruz Azul, Lionel Messi made an immediate and significant effect by curling in the game-winning free kick in the final minute of regulation.

Martino, the Argentine head coach of the Miami Dolphins, decided to limit the playing time of Messi and Sergio Busquets, the Spanish midfielder, on Saturday. However, because both players made such a good impression, Martino revealed on Monday that he was tempted to start the pair against his former club on Wednesday. Messi and Busquets both scored goals in the match.

 

 

“Well, it seems like both Leo and Busi will be getting more playing time in the future. Even so, I am of the opinion that if they play more, we will be able to alter the dynamic, and perhaps they will participate right from the start of the game. However, we are all aware that when Leo starts, the amount of time that we would be discussing is 90 minutes,” remarked the former coach of Barcelona and Argentina.

“But everything will depend on how they feel, as it is only the second game that they will play,” he said. “It is only the second game that they are going to play.”

Inter will automatically go to the knockout stage of the new event for clubs from Major League Soccer and Mexican Liga MX if they are victorious in their match on Wednesday at DRV PNK Stadium.

Due to the fact that the Major League Soccer regular season will not resume until August 20, Messi and his teammates will be without a game to play for nearly a month if they are eliminated from the playoffs.

Martino has stated that his players are still working on the adjustments that they need to make in order to get the most out of their two new star team-mates, one of whom is the former Spanish fullback for Barca, Jordi Alba, who will be joining the squad soon.

“We had already begun working on changing the way that we play, but it is clear that with Busquets, Jordi, and Leo we will have to (further) modify the way that we play and we also have to work on raising the level in general,” said Martino. “We had already started working on changing the way that we play.”

The excitement surrounding Messi’s move to the United States has only increased since Saturday’s premiere, but goalkeeper Drake Callender says that the other players are working hard to make the team dynamic as normal as possible for the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, who has impressed them with his approachable nature.

“He’s a pretty humble guy, which was surprising to me because I’ve never been around a player with that capacity before,” she said. “I’ve never been around a player with that capacity before.” He described him as laid-back.

“He is still getting a feel for how everything works over here. Please be patient with him.” Because of this, I believe that myself and some of the other players are doing our best to make him feel welcome, to make him feel like he is one of our teammates, and to just make him feel comfortable here.

I make it a point to talk to him whenever I get the chance so that he knows he is valued as a member of the team. I’ll say it again: just deal with him as if he were one of your teammates. I have the impression that wherever he walks, there are cameras and lights ready and waiting to record the event. People want him to sign items for them, while others want to have conversations with him. Therefore, I just make it a point to act as normally as I can,” Callender explained further.

While it was inevitable that Messi would steal the show, former Barcelona midfielder Busquets also appeared to be instantly at home with his new squad, reforging his old relationship with the Argentine. Busquets and Messi have played together in the past.

Central defender from Canada, Kamal Miller, stated that having one of the best ball passers in front of him necessitates a different strategy when it comes to passing the ball from the back. Miller is referring to his teammate.

“Without a doubt, when we have a guy of that caliber on our team, we want to prioritize going through him. Because he is able to thread the needle and locate the killer pass at any time, it is something that we seek for rather frequently. And having a person with that talent, it attracts so much attention, it opens up space for everyone else, so I think we’re all going to gain from it,” he said. “And having a guy with that caliber, it attracts so much attention, it opens up space for everyone else.”