Even though he plays in the Major League Soccer (MLS), a retirement league, Lionel Messi continues to dominate the football world. Messi gave it his all for Inter Miami in the MLS Cup, leading the way as his team defeated Nashville SC 4-0 on Saturday night in the pivotal Game 3 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series with two goals and two assists in the first half. Thanks to the two assists, Messi accomplished a significant career milestone by recording an incredible 400 assists (for both club and country). With this accomplishment, Messi is only 4 assists away from the top slot, which is currently held by the legendary Ferenc Puskas.

In terms of his career statistics, Messi has played in 1133 games for his club and nation, tallying 400 assists and 894 goals. Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi's bitter rival, is ranked ninth on the list with 304 career assists to date.
Inter Miami outscored Nashville 8-3 in the series thanks to two goals from Tadeo Allende, both set up by Messi, in the second half. Messi contributed to five of those eight goals and assisted on the remaining three.
On November 22 or 23, Inter Miami will travel to FC Cincinnati for an East semifinal game. Unlike Round 1's best-of-three system, everything is now single-elimination.

This season, Cincinnati's record versus Inter Miami was 1-0-1, with a 3-0 victory at home on July 16 and a scoreless draw at Fort Lauderdale on July 26. For the first meeting, Messi was in the starting lineup, but not for the second.
After making his 100th appearance for Inter Miami, Jordi Alba, who will retire at the end of this postseason series, stated, "We know Cincinnati will be a tough test."
Messi is a strong favourite to earn MLS MVP for the second time in a row, making history as the first player to do so. As the top scorer in MLS this season, he also took home the Golden Boot.

recently signed a new three-year contract to stay with the team until 2028, and he appears to be playing his best football at the ideal moment for Inter Miami.
Inter Miami has never advanced this far in the MLS playoffs before. The long-defunct Miami Fusion, South Florida's MLS precursor, advanced to the league semifinals in its final season in 2001, but Inter Miami is unfamiliar with this.
A year before, during Messi's first full season with the team, it was eliminated by Atlanta after losing Game 3 of Round 1 at home as the Supporters Shield winners.