Lionel Messi was a substitute and entered midway through the second half of Inter Miami’s 2-2 draw against Atlanta United, a match in which Leonardo Campana was the main protagonist.
To face this midweek duel, Tata Martino arranged an alternative team that had as starters, among others, the Mendoza native Franco Negri, the former Boca player Marcelo Weigandt, the Argentine-American Benjamín Cremaschi and the Ecuadorian Leonardo Campana who scored the second goal and reached the historic record of the club held by Pipita Higuaín.
When everyone expected Messi to reach that mark, Campana reached 30 goals by scoring from a free kick and surpassed Higuaín, in addition to helping Inter Miami score a point as a visitor. Messi, like Jordi Alba, Luis Suárez and Federico Redondo entered in the second half.
Inter’s other goal was scored by Honduran David Ruiz in the first half, but the home side tied the score twice through Georgian Saba Lobzhanidze and Russian Aleksei Miranchuk.
Inter Miami remains at the top of the MLS Eastern Conference with 63 points in 29 games and 8 points more than second-place Cincinnati and also the West’s leader Los Angeles Galaxy.
In addition to qualifying for the playoffs for the MLS title, the team that earns the most points in the regular season will win the Supporter Shield, a trophy that would be historic for Inter Miami and could even mean an invitation to the FIFA Club World Cup.
