It was supposed to be Lionel Messi’s moment, a final glimpse of magic in a game long gone. With two minutes left in Inter Miami’s Club World Cup round-of-16 tie against PSG, the Argentine stood over a free kick, but the shot crashed into the wall, summing up a night that belonged entirely to the European champions.
PSG tore through Miami from the first whistle. Joao Neves opened the scoring in five minutes, heading in unmarked from a set piece.
Just before the 40-minute mark, a costly mistake from Sergio Busquets handed PSG their second. He was dispossessed in midfield, and Fabian Ruiz squared for Neves, who calmly finished into an empty net.
Five minutes later, a low cross from Vitinha forced Tomas Aviles into scoring an own goal, making it 3-0.
In the 45th minute, Bradley Barcola charged down the left finding Hakimi, who made it four. By halftime, the game was done.
Messi had only 14 touches by the break; Suarez had 17. The midfield was missing, and the result was never in doubt.
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What Lionel Messi said about PSG
Speaking to DSPORTS after full-time, Messi kept his tone respectful. “PSG is a great team, the winners of the last Champions League, and the truth is they’re doing very very well. It was what we expected,” he said.
“It was the match we anticipated. We tried to do our best, and we left a good impression in the Club World Cup.”
“There was a bit of a bitter feeling after the match with Palmeiras because we were winning 2-0, and we ended up drawing, which made us face this PSG team that’s much tougher. But it’s not a criticism, just a situation that could have been different because being up 2-0 and then conceding the equaliser with 10 minutes left left us with a bitter taste.”
