In the summer of 2023, Lionel Messi bid farewell to European soccer and embarked on a new chapter in the United States when he signed for Inter Miami.
Messi’s arrival on American soil has had a transformative impact. He not only inspired Inter Miami to a historic Leagues Cup triumph but also played a crucial role in elevating the profile and quality of play in MLS.
The Argentine’s aura has left another Argentine mesmerized. Thiago Almada who plays for Atlanta United in Major League Soccer recently gave insights on how Lionel Messi improved the quality of the tournament after joining the David Beckham-owned club.
Almada was full of praise for the former Barcelona star and the impact he had in the league to date. He said, “It changed a lot with Messi. The football improved a lot. You can see that a lot more. It’s back and forth, there are a lot of goals. Sometimes it happened to us that we started winning and didn’t build on that, and we ended up losing.”
Thiago Almada explains how Lionel #Messi has ‘improved’ #MLS as he admits Argentina team-mate ‘knew more’ about U.S. soccer than him even before joining Inter Miami https://t.co/It3Pq5dgAD pic.twitter.com/t665zUdTBH
— Chris Burton (@Burtytweets) December 5, 2023
Messi deeply understood American soccer, which was more than Almada’s knowledge of the league even before he joined Inter Miami. “When Leo came, he knew more about MLS than I did. I spoke when we faced each other. He arrived and they started winning all the games,” he added.
The 22-year-old Almada was part of the World Cup-winning squad for Argentina in 2022. Almada has a huge respect for the Argentine genius takes us back to a League Cup encounter earlier this season when they both exchanged jerseys after the match. Inter Miami got the upper hand in that encounter after beating Atlanta United 4 goals to nil.
Thiago Almada proved right in Lionel Messi’s last five MLS games
Atlanta United midfielder Thiago Almada has recently confessed a statement that goes with Lionel Messi’s last five Major League Soccer games.
Having started his time at Inter Miami on a positive note, winning the Leagues Cup convincingly, although Lionel Messi and his side couldn’t hold on to their form in the league. Inter Miami failed to make the playoffs in the Major League Soccer because of the lack of consistency.
Almada when talking about Lionel Messi’s impact at the MLS, said, “Sometimes it happened to us that we started winning and didn’t build on that, and we ended up losing.”
Inter Miami have been eliminated from the MLS playoffs ⛔️🇺🇸
After their October 21st match, Inter Miami will NOT play another MLS game until late February.
Since Messi’s debut, Inter Miami only won one of the six games he missed and only lost one of the 13 he’s played in. pic.twitter.com/VxbvSMILcf
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 8, 2023
Messi’s last five MLS games were far from excellence as they failed to bring in their purple patch during the later stages of the league. Inter Miami only managed to get 2 victories out of their last 5 games, thus missing their shot for the playoffs.
Messi only registered 2 assists out of these 5 games having started 4 of those. He failed to find the back of the net during these games and will be looking forward to delivering from the get-go next season.