“Breaking the deadlock in just the eighth minute of Inter Miami’s 4–0 rout of Atlanta United, Messi opens the scoring in a dominant Man of the Match display that brings him to career goal 809 and his second strike of the Leagues Cup campaign.”
Messi delivers a dominant brace and slick assist in just 77 minutes, effectively deciding Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup group clash with Atlanta United almost single-handedly at age 36.
Off Neymar’s layoff, Messi meets the bouncing ball with a crisp right-foot half-volley that skids past the keeper to put Barça 2–0 up on Betis, his 292nd La Liga goal and 474th of his career.
Pedro’s cross sits up awkwardly and Messi meets it with a crisp right-foot half-volley that rockets through the crowded box to make it 3–0 in his Levante hat-trick, bringing him to 268 La Liga goals and 435 in his career.
Suárez’s layoff sits up awkwardly and Messi lashes a first-time right-foot volley through the crowd to break the deadlock for Barcelona, a technically sharp finish that becomes La Liga goal number 330 of his career.
Josef Martínez threads the assist for Messi to stretch Inter Miami’s lead over Orlando City to 3–1 in this Leagues Cup knockout tie, capping a brace and taking him to 812 career goals and five in the tournament.