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 crashed a free kick into the PSG defensive wall, summing up a night that belonged entirely to the European champions.
PSG tore through Inter Miami from the first whistle, as Joao Neves opened the scoring inside 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 before Tomas Aviles’ own goal made it 3-0.
Achraf Hakimi made it four before the break, to kill off the tie, with Messi nulified by the potency of his old team, as Inter Miami faced a crushing exit.
Messi had only 14 touches in a one-sided first with strike partner Luis Suarez only faring slightly better on 17.
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What Lionel Messi said about PSG
Speaking to DSPORTS at 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.
“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 ended up drawing, which made us face this PSG team that’s much tougher. It’s not a criticism, just a situation that could have been different because being up 2-0 and conceding the equaliser with 10 minutes left left us with a bitter taste.”
Messi and Inter Miami will now return to MLS action vis a trip to CF Montreal on July 6 with Javier Mascherano’s side currently sixth in the Eastern Conference rankings.
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