Lionel Messi stands on the brink of a rare sight in his illustrious career, with a trophyless season on the cards. When Inter Miami face Nashville SC in a decisive MLS playoff elimination game on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, the Argentine great will be playing to avoid what would be just the second trophyless campaign of his 21-season professional journey. In 20 of those seasons, and in every one unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Messi has lifted at least one team trophy. Fourteen of those seasons brought two or more. But in 2025, none so far. Inter Miami’s MLS Cup campaign is his final opportunity, and they must now string together four consecutive victories, with the first one against Nashville, to stay alive. The club’s playoff hopes took a hit with last week’s 2-1 loss to Nashville in Game 2 of their best-of-three series. One more defeat would eliminate Miami and leave Messi without a title for the year. The only comparable drought came in 2019–20 with Barcelona, a turbulent season that ended with an 8-2 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich and no trophies. Since joining Inter Miami in July 2023, Messi has collected the 2023 Leagues Cup, the 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield, and the 2024 Copa América with Argentina. Yet, despite his individual brilliance and being on course to win a second straight MLS MVP award, Miami have fallen short in key tournaments this year. They exited the CONCACAF Champions Cup in the semifinals against Vancouver, fell to PSG in the Club World Cup round of 16, and were beaten 3-0 by Seattle in the Leagues Cup final. The Supporters’ Shield slipped away narrowly as Miami finished third in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Philadelphia.
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Will Messi avoid a trophyless season with Inter Miami?
Head coach Javier Mascherano urged calm and unity ahead of Saturday’s decider. “We must now swallow the poison, save it and keep it inside all week long so we can release that in front of our fans next Saturday,” he said. “It is time for us to be more united than ever because I have a lot of faith that we will turn it around.”
