One day (less than 24 hours) after posting an emotional letter to pay tribute to his father, Leo Messi returned to action with Inter Miami as a substitute at the start of the second half of a Leagues Cup game, but Miami lost 3-2 to León and was eliminated from the competition.
When Messi entered the field, he received a huge ovation by the fans at the Nu Stadium in Miami, although the home team lost to the Mexican team.
Miami also lost 1-2 to Monterrey in the second Leagues Cup game, without Messi, and won their first match of the competition against San Luis, 4-2, with a brace by Messi, his first goals after the World Cup final.
Inter Miami will return to the usual MLS schedule on Sunday against Nashville.
The Leagues Cup is a competition created in 2019 and played between the teams from the MLS in United States and Canada and the Liga MX in Mexico. It consists of a short group stage followed by play-offs and finals, and this has been the first time Inter Miami fails to qualify for the play-offs since the competition was expanded in 2023, also the year Messi arrived at the MLS (Miami ended up winning their first and only title in the competition in 2023, a tournament often criticised for congesting the football calendar).
Messi hinted of a soon retirement after his father passed away. "I don't know what I'm going to do without you, I don't know how to go on. I just played football, and now I seriously doubt I'll be able to keep doing that for much longer", Messi wrote.
