Lionel Messi must regain his form to lead Inter Miami in Leagues Cup – Lionel Messi and Inter Miami won their first game in the 2025 Leagues Cup, although they are still in sixth place in the tournament standings, behind five other teams, before their second group stage game. If Inter Miami wants to move on in the tournament, they need Messi to get back to his old self. The 2025 Leagues Cup has a new format. The matches will be between Major League Soccer teams and LIGA MX clubs from Mexico. The top four clubs from each league will move on to the knockout stage.
This year, winning only gets you three points.
The next criteria in the table is goal difference, which means that scoring more goals is more important to getting to the quarterfinals. Messi helped Telasco Segovia and Marcelo Weigandt score goals in Inter Miami’s 2-1 win over Atlas on July 30. However, he said he was tired in his first game back after a week off.
Messi missed the MLS All-Star Game on July 23, which led to a one-game suspension on July 26. Before the hiatus, Messi scored two goals in four of the five games he played after the FIFA Club World Cup. Lionel Messi needs to get back into the swing of things to help Inter Miami win the Leagues Cup. Portrait of Safid DeenSafid Deen USA TODAY
The 2025 Leagues Cup has a new format. The matches are still between Major League Soccer teams and LIGA MX clubs from Mexico, but only the top four clubs from each league will move on to the knockout stage. This year, winning only gets you three points, which isn’t enough. The next criteria in the table is goal difference, which means that scoring more goals is more important for moving on to the quarterfinals.
“You look at the table and see that you’ve won, but you’re in sixth place because of the goal difference.” “There’s still a lot that can happen in the next two games,” remarked Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano the day before the club’s encounter against Necaxa at Chase Stadium on Saturday, August 2.
In Inter Miami’s 2-1 win over Atlas on July 30, Messi set up goals for Telasco Segovia and Marcelo Weigandt, but he said he was tired because it was his first game back after a week off. Messi missed the MLS All-Star Game on July 23, which led to a one-game suspension on July 26. Messi scored two goals in four of the five matches after the FIFA Club World Cup before the break.
“Even if [the rest] seems better, it’s worse for me because I have to compete.” Messi told Apple TV, “The more matches I play and get into a rhythm, the better I feel physically.” “The other day they didn’t let me compete, and I felt it in the first half, but the important thing is that we won.” Mascherano thinks Messi will get back to his best, especially since Inter Miami will play three of its next four games at home. The only game outside of the state is against Orlando City, a competitor in the same state, on August 10.
“Unless Leo is tired and doesn’t say anything, the idea is that if he feels good, he’ll always play,” Mascherano remarked about Messi.
Inter Miami needs its best player to stay up with the other MLS teams in the Leagues Cup.
On July 31, the Seattle Sounders trounced Cruz Azul, the defending Concacaf Champions Cup winners, 7-0. The L.A. Galaxy beat Tijuana 5-2. The Portland Timbers won Atlético de San Luis 4-0, and Minnesota United beat Querétaro 4-1 on July 3.0.
Seattle, Portland, the Galaxy, and Minnesota are the top four teams in the MLS side of the Leagues Cup table. They are followed by FC Cincinnati (who overcame Monterrey 3-2 on July 31), Inter Miami, the Colorado Rapids, and the New York Red Bulls. The first Leagues Cup match was won by those eight MLS teams.
After the first round of fixtures, the best four teams in LIGA MX are Tigres UANL, FC Juarez, Puebla, and Necaxa. Inter Miami will play Tigres UANL on Wednesday, August 6, after their encounter against Necaxa. This will be their penultimate match of the group stage.
Mascherano remarked, “What keeps you going is trying to play well, get a good result, and then we’ll see what happens.” “But I don’t think it helps to feel sorry for yourself or worry too much about other people’s results.”
Fernando Gago is the new coach of Necaxa, and he has only been in charge for a little over two months. In their first game of the Leagues Cup on July 30, they beat Atlanta United 3-1. In the 2008 Olympic men’s soccer final, Gago started with Messi and Mascherano, and in the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup final, he came off the bench when Argentina lost to Germany.
Mascherano said of Gago, “Fernando is a friend from soccer. I had the honor of spending many years with him on the national team, but he’s also someone I care about and have shared moments with outside of soccer.” “It’s always nice to see folks you know, people you’ve had a lot of fun with. And when the ball begins rolling, I’ll do everything I can to compete and win so that we still have a chance to qualify.
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