Messi, Allende braces lead Inter Miami to series-clinching 4-0 rout of Nashville

Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald on Nov 8, 2025

Published in Soccer

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Their season and pride were on the line. Star forward Luis Suarez was suspended and watching from a suite. And Nashville SC was across the field for the fourth game in a row.

Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates had plenty of reasons to be fired up Saturday night for the decisive Game 3 of the first-round playoff series at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. Coach Javier Mascherano urged his players to bottle up their frustration from the Game 2 loss and unleash it on Saturday.

That they did in a 4-0 rout that advanced Miami to the knockout round of the MLS playoffs for the first time in club history. Inter Miami will face FC Cincinnati on the road either Nov. 22 or 23 in the single-elimination Eastern Conference semifinal game.

At the 10-minute mark, as if on cue, the Argentine No. 10 showed how serious he was about winning. He dribbled through four Nashville defenders and cranked a low left-footed shot to the bottom right corner to give Inter Miami a 1-0 lead.

The home fans, most of them in pink replica Messi shirts, erupted as their 38-year-old hero was swarmed by his jubilant teammates. Suarez flashed a giant grin.

The play began when Miami defender Ian Fray put pressure on a Nashville attacker, the ball got to Tadeo Allende, who redirected the ball into Messi’s path, and he took it from there, leaving yellow shirts in his wake.

Messi doubled Miami’s lead in the 39th minute when Jordi Alba delivered a long ball to Mateo Silvetti, who started in place of Suarez, and the Argentine teenager made a heady play, cutting the ball back to an open Messi in front of the goal. Messi scored an easy goal from close range and the home crowd went wild.

It was Messi’s 15th goal in the past 10 games and his eighth in four games against Nashville during the past three weeks.

Miami took a 2-0 lead into halftime and then Allende put on a show in the second half, scoring a pair of goals in the 73rd and 76th minutes to stretch the Miami lead to 4-0.

Allende’s first goal came after Alba worked hard to keep the ball in bounds just outside the left corner of the goal and then found Allende in the box. His second goal came on a fast break with a through ball from Messi.

Miami, with the most expensive roster in MLS history, failed to meet expectations last season, losing to Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs. Coach Javier Mascherano and his players stressed for weeks how determined they were to avoid another embarrassing exit.

A familiar foe stood in the way on Saturday.

Over the past three weeks Inter Miami beat Nashville 5-2 on the road in the regular season finale, won at home 3-1 in Game 1 of the playoffs and lost Game 2 in Nashville last weekend, which forced Game 3.

Maschereno went with the same starters he used in Game 2 with the exception of Suarez, who served a red card suspension.

The ban was imposed by the MLS Disciplinary Committee on Wednesday following a review requested by Nashville SC. The committee ruled that Suarez kicked Nashville defender Andy Najar in the 71st minute of Game 2. Suarez appealed the decision, but it was upheld.

Silvetti, the 19-year-old Argentine attacker who joined the team in late-August, started in place of Suarez.

The rest of the Starting XI included: Rocco Rios Novo, Ian Fray, Maxi Falcon, Noah Allen, Alba, Sergio Busquets, Rodrigo De Paul, Allende, Baltasar Rodriguez and Messi, the team captain and league Golden Boot winner.

Mascherano used a 4-3-3 formation Silvetti and Allende flanking Messi and a midfield of Busquets, De Paul and Rodriguez.

Miami’s bench players were Oscar Ustari, Marcelo Weigandt, Toto Aviles, Gonzalo Lujan, Yannick Bright, Telasco Segovia, Santi Morales, Fafa Picault and Allen Obando.

Nashville’s starters were Joe Willis, Jack Maher, Josh Bauer, captain Walker Zimmerman, Najar, Patrick Yazbek, Sam Surridge, Matthew Corcoran, Alex Muyl, Edvard Tagseth and Hany Mukhtar.