Following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi from European clubs and their move to other parts of the world, the two biggest stars of world football in recent decades have inevitably continued to be compared to each other. The Portuguese business in the Saudi “Al-Nasr” continues to function with varying degrees of success. Victories alternate with inexplicable defeats. And Ronaldo himself is far from always able to help the team turn the tide of unsuccessful matches.
However, Cristiano won his first trophy at the new venue against the Argentine. On August 12, his Al-Nasr won the Arab Champions Cup, beating Al-Hilal in the final-2:1. In addition, Ronaldo himself scored a brace in the decisive match. Checkmate, Lionel? He was not there.
Messi, unlike Cristiano, came, as they say, to “scorched earth.” Until recently, Inter Miami was one of the worst teams in MLS. And the Florida club could only dream of some kind of tournament victories, and even in a fairly long term. But the arrival of Messi transformed the hitherto modest club, and instantly.
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Leo’s first test on the new team was the North American League Cup. Miracles were not expected from Inter and from Messi personally. The Argentine has repeatedly declared that he was going to the United States to take a break from the attention of the whole world. And it may seem to many that the decision to cross the ocean is the beginning of his preparation to leave for a well-deserved rest.
But Lionel immediately began to score in almost all matches, and his club, which had recently accumulated defeats, confidently went first to the playoffs, and then to the final. Thanks to the victory over Philadelphia, Inter Miami secured a ticket to the CONCACAF Champions Cup. But this Messi was not enough. He was waiting for the first North American trophy, which was just a step away.
In the League Cup final, the Florida club faced Nashville. And Messi once again assumed the role of ringleader and leader of the attacks. He opened the scoring in the decisive match, putting Inter Miami ahead. The rivals were able to recover, and the fate of the trophy was decided in a penalty shootout. In which the Argentine himself was the first to get close to the point -and he did not disappoint- setting an excellent example for his teammates. As a result, the series turned out to be nervous and protracted, but the nerves of the Inter players turned out to be even stronger. And very soon the happy Messi went for the coveted prize.
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Thanks to the victory in the tournament, Lionel set a historic achievement. Until then he had won 43 trophies to his credit and shared first place in this indicator with another former Barcelona soccer player, Dani Alves. Now Messi is the absolute record holder for the number of titles won in world football.
Ahead of Messi and his team is the continuation of the MLS season, in which Inter continues to do poorly. But do not forget that the regular season was suspended for the duration of the League Cup, and Lionel had not yet had time to say the word about him there. So the Argentine will do everything possible to rectify the situation. After all, he was not used to being on the sidelines, even if someone managed to believe him and consider Messi’s game in America something like a vacation.
