Buenos Aires, March 18 (NA) – Inter Miami, led by Argentine star Lionel Messi, drew 1-1 with Nashville and was eliminated on away goals in a match that will go down in history as the one in which the forward scored his 900th career goal. The match took place this evening at Chase Stadium for the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16. According to the Argentine News Agency, the 'No. 10' scored the first goal of the match at the six-minute mark of the first half with a low, cross-shot left foot, allowing him to reach a new statistical milestone in his career. Meanwhile, Argentine forward Cristian Espinoza scored when they were 28 minutes into the second half. With the defeat on aggregate, Inter Miami was eliminated in the Round of 16, marking their worst performance in their three appearances in the North American tournament: they were semifinalists last year and reached the quarterfinals in 2024. The first chance of the match came at three minutes, with a low cross from the right by Lionel Messi that left forward Germán Berterame open, though the naturalized Mexican midfielder put the ball right into the hands of goalkeeper Brian Schwanke. The first goal of the match arrived at six minutes, when Messi received a pass from the left from Sergio Reguilon and crossed a low shot that went between a defender's legs to open the scoreboard, also being his 900th career goal. At 35 minutes, Messi filtered a pass to the right for the Argentine winger Tadeo Allende, who tried to chip the ball over Schwanke's charge, but the goalkeeper made a great save to deflect the shot. The first chance of the second half came at 11 minutes, with a cross from Messi from the left edge of the area to the penalty spot, where Berterame headed it, but his shot went into the hands of goalkeeper Brian Schwanke. Ten minutes later, midfielder Hany Mukhtar received a through pass to face goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair one-on-one, although his shot went high over the crossbar. The visitors equalized at 28 minutes of the second half, with a volley shot from the right side of the area by forward Cristian Espinoza.
