{"id":164535,"date":"2026-02-22T07:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T07:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/164535\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T07:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T07:22:09","slug":"lionel-messi-and-inter-miami-suffer-on-mls-opening-night-in-road-defeat-to-lafc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/164535\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi and Inter Miami suffer on MLS opening night in road defeat to LAFC"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the big-name match-up MLS dreamed of to start the season, it was LAFC that delivered the first big punch.<\/p>\n

Inter Miami and Lionel Messi might be the favorites to win MLS Cup, but Son Heung-min, Denis Bouanga and LAFC will have something to say about it, too. Son assisted on the opener, Bouanga scored one and assisted on another, and Messi was mostly quiet on the night as LAFC dominated in a 3-0 win in front of 75,673 at the LA Coliseum, the second-largest crowd in MLS history.<\/p>\n

This was, of course, the marquee game that MLS needed to start its campaign. There\u2019s no arguing it wasn\u2019t worth getting its two biggest stars on stage to open the season. Still, every team is fighting off the early-season rust and one can only hope we see these two games face off again later in the year. It would be the just the second time that the opening game for both teams wound up being the same as the MLS Cup match-up. In 2001 it happened with the San Jose Earthquakes and LA Galaxy.<\/p>\n

Yet, at a time when everyone is expecting MLS\u2019s super team to dominate league play en route to a second straight title, the other super power slowed that coronation. LAFC\u2019s vertical style of soccer seems perfectly tuned to hit Miami\u2019s weaknesses, and Inter struggled to find as much of the game as they\u2019d normally like.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n LAFC\u2019s Denis Bouanga (left) and Son Heung-min celebrate during a big season opening win. (Kevork Djansezian \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Miami had 68 percent of possession, but LAFC never felt out of control in the game. L.A. prefers transition soccer, and that was evident on the opening goal in the 38th minute when a Rodrigo De Paul giveaway was immediately punished by Son, who found David Martinez for the goal.<\/p>\n

Messi created three chances on the night, tied with Bouanga and Son for most, but LAFC effectively limited the influence of the 2024 and 2025 MLS MVP.<\/p>\n

Bouanga took advantage of Miami\u2019s high back line \u2014 and Dayne St. Clair being out of his goal in no man\u2019s land \u2014 in the second half to double the lead, and Nathan Ordaz delivered the final blow in added time.<\/p>\n

LAFC very much look the part of MLS Cup contenders, but I wouldn\u2019t go so far as to cross Miami off as the favorite yet. As Mascherano said after the game, you can\u2019t go crazy after wins, nor can you make losses into tragedies. Especially not at the start of an MLS season.<\/p>\n

There is a long, long, long way to go until November and December.<\/p>\n

Youth movement at Red Bull<\/p>\n

If there was a surprise on MLS\u2019s opening night \u2014\u00a0with all due respect to D.C. United beating Philadelphia \u2014\u00a0it was Michael Bradley using his MLS coaching debut to make a statement of confidence.<\/p>\n

The New York Red Bulls became the first team in MLS history to start three players aged 17 or younger in a regular season match<\/a>, with Bradley selecting Julian Hall, Matthew Dos Santos and midfielder Adri Mehmeti in his XI for the season opener. The kids rewarded their new coach. Hall scored twice in New York\u2019s 2-1 win over Orlando City, and Mehmeti showed why many around the league see him as one of the best American prospects to emerge.<\/p>\n

The Red Bulls were energetic and dominant in the first half, then held off a push by the host Orlando City in the second half to pull off a win.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Michael Bradley made a winning start to life as New York Red Bulls coach. (Eston Parker \/ ISI Photos)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all really grateful for the coaching staff trusting us,\u201d Hall said. \u201cMe, Adri (Mehmeti) and Matty (Dos Santos) came through the academy, and we fought so hard to get to this position. So it was an amazing opportunity today, and we\u2019re happy to get the three points.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone who was around Bradley as a player knew he was going to follow in the footsteps of his father and become a coach when he was done playing. It was clear his way of thinking about the game would fit well as a coach \u2014 and maybe even fit better in some ways than being one of the best American players in national team history.<\/p>\n

That Bradley has followed up his MLS Next Pro championship with RBNY II showing that he\u2019ll trust the kids has made the Red Bulls one of the teams to watch early this season \u2014\u00a0if only to keep an eye on some of these exciting young players.<\/p>\n

Around the league on opening night<\/p>\n

Nashville\u2019s attack was everything we expected it to be in its 4-1 win over New England. Sam Surridge was an MVP finalist last year and still might be underrated in the league \u2026 Cristian Espinoza and Hany Mukhtar \u2026 and Warren Madrigal? Pura vida, mae.<\/p>\n

Tata Martino is going to need as much time as we thought in order to turn Atlanta United into a contender again, as shown by a 2-0 defeat in Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

A lot of people around the league think Houston had one of the best offseasons in MLS and they got a 2-1 result to back it up over a Chicago Fire team that is looking to take another step in its second season under Gregg Berhalter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like we were on autopilot (in the second half) and for us, it\u2019s I think a good lesson,\u201d Berhalter said. \u201cIf we go out and we play at half speed, we\u2019re a below-average team. When you see in the first half, when we play with real tempo, it\u2019s a really good product. But unfortunately the second half was a very poor performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Thomas Muller enjoyed Vancouver\u2019s win with teammate Aziel Jackson. (Elizabeth Ruiz Ruiz \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Thomas Muller guaranteed a Vancouver win on opening weekend and the Whitecaps delivered with a 1-0 result over Real Salt Lake. It will be a massive test to see how Vancouver follows 2025 now that they\u2019ll have a target on their back all season long.<\/p>\n

Tai Baribo grabbed post-trade revenge, helping D.C. United to a 1-0 victory over his former friends at the Philadelphia Union. Christian Benteke figured to be one of the toughest players to replace in MLS this year, but Baribo got things started off well in the opener.<\/p>\n

The Portland-Columbus game was entertaining, and for as much love as you\u2019ll see for the Espinoza signing in Nashville in our anonymous GM survey early next week, Portland\u2019s move for Cole Bassett might end up looking like one of the best in-league moves of the offseason as he was influential throughout his team\u2019s 3-2 success.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew it was about to be a chaotic type of game,\u201d Portland coach Phil Neville told Apple TV afterwards. \u201cWe\u2019ve been a chaotic team all preseason and I think that\u2019s when we\u2019re at our best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the big-name match-up MLS dreamed of to start the season, it was LAFC that delivered the first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[17157,17159,17160,10151,17143,17153,17145,17147,17158,17149,17152,5429,17156,17148,123,125,124,17155,5692,16076,17144,17142,17146,4788,14193,14240,14243,17162,17150,17154,2062,17151,17161,8005,4798],"class_list":{"0":"post-164535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-atlanta-united-fc","9":"tag-austin-fc","10":"tag-charlotte-fc","11":"tag-chicago-fire","12":"tag-club-de-foot-montreal","13":"tag-colorado-rapids","14":"tag-columbus-crew","15":"tag-dc-united","16":"tag-fc-cincinnati","17":"tag-fc-dallas","18":"tag-houston-dynamo","19":"tag-inter-miami-cf","20":"tag-los-angeles-fc","21":"tag-los-angeles-galaxy","22":"tag-miami","23":"tag-miami-headlines","24":"tag-miami-news","25":"tag-minnesota-united-fc","26":"tag-mls","27":"tag-nashville-soccer-club","28":"tag-new-england-revolution","29":"tag-new-york-city-fc","30":"tag-new-york-red-bulls","31":"tag-orlando-city-sc","32":"tag-philadelphia-union","33":"tag-portland-timbers","34":"tag-real-salt-lake","35":"tag-san-diego-fc","36":"tag-san-jose-earthquakes","37":"tag-seattle-sounders-fc","38":"tag-soccer","39":"tag-sporting-kc","40":"tag-st-louis-city-sc","41":"tag-toronto-fc","42":"tag-vancouver-whitecaps-fc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}