LAFC hands Messi and Inter Miami first loss of the season

LOS ANGELES — With Lionel Messi at the helm, Inter Miami playing away from home can have the feel of a traveling circus, going from city to city so that people everywhere have a chance to watch la pulga atómica play.

But on Wednesday night, Los Angeles Football Club shut the circus down before the little magician could ever really get it going, winning 1-0 and physically dominating a tense CONCACAF Champions Cup match.

LAFC have had mixed fortunes to begin the 2025 season, splitting the team’s six MLS matches exactly down the middle with three wins and three losses. Similarly, in the Champions Cup, LAFC lost a match in each of its two-legged ties with the Columbus Crew and Colorado Rapids, but managed to advance on aggregate and away goals, respectively.

Miami, meanwhile, had been the cream of the U.S. club football crop, going undefeated in all competitions and leading MLS’ Eastern Conference despite having played one fewer match (five) than most teams (six).

Messi returned to the starting lineup on Wednesday night after sitting out the international break due to a minor muscle injury. But he hardly skipped a beat after his short layoff, tallying what was ultimately the winning goal in Miami’s 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union this past weekend. LAFC, on the other hand, had lost four of its last five matches.

Despite Miami having some nice moments of controlled possession in the opening 20 minutes, LAFC simply put its stamp on the match before Miami could find a real rhythm in attack. With Miami playing a 4-4-2 formation in which Messi and Luis Suárez were stationed up top, LAFC seemed to want to catch Miami in transition, knowing that the former Barcelona forwards might not track back too aggressively.

So, when the opportunities presented themselves, LAFC played direct balls for left winger Denis Bouanga and striker Nathan Ordaz to run onto, either over the top or a through ball across the grass. Some of these passes didn’t connect, and even the ones that did occasionally ended in Bouanga getting dispossessed, but the tactic seemed to disrupt Miami’s tempo and make the Herons more tentative in possession.

Miami still found moments to consolidate in LAFC’s defensive third, though, and a pair of first-half fouls gave Messi free kick opportunities in dangerous territory. The numerous pink jerseys in the crowd were on their feet, but neither ended up in the back of the net, with the first going over Hugo Lloris’ goal while the other was easily saved by the former French international. The first half was otherwise unremarkable, with the two teams racking up a combined three shots on target.

It didn’t take long for LAFC to open the scoring in the second half, though. Ordaz scored the game’s lone goal and added a major clip to his highlight reel in the process, receiving the ball with his back to goal and spinning away from Sergio Busquets with the same touch before finding space to let the ball rip from just over 20 yards. He seemed to catch Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari slightly unaware, as the Argentinian keeper was shuffling back towards his goal line while trying to keep an eye on Ordaz simultaneously.

None of that would’ve happened if Ordaz had been sent off in the first half, which might’ve happened after the referee was called to the monitor for a VAR review of an off-ball tussle between Ordaz and Miami center back Maximiliano Falcón. Ordaz appeared to catch Falcón’s face with an outstretched hand, and was ultimately given a yellow for the incident.

But Ordaz stayed on the pitch and made his presence known, not just with the goal but also his interplay with Bouanga down the left flank. Ordaz created four chances on the night and was not dispossessed a single time, while also intercepting the ball twice and leading LA from the front defensively.

“We knew [Ordaz] would run for us,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said in his post-match press conference. “With and without the ball he worked extremely hard. [He] understood what areas to press, what areas to occupy defensively and his ability to run in behind comes natural to him.”

It was the kind of controlled, mature performance as a No. 9 that makes one wonder if Ordaz can eventually make the striker position his own for LAFC this season, allowing Bouanga to play predominantly on the left flank, where the Gabonian is more of a natural. Bouanga completed an absurd seven out of 12 dribbles on the night, giving Miami’s backline plenty to think about.

On the opposite side, Turkish winger Cengiz Ünder made just his fourth start for LAFC after signing from Fenerbahçe on loan in February. He looked lively, creating two chances and cutting inside with some effect, but was also hesitant to fire and didn’t register a shot attempt before being replaced by the 19-year-old Venezuelan David Martínez.

LAFC will travel to Miami next week feeling confident in its ability to advance to the semifinals and potentially win the club’s first-ever Champions Cup trophy, having made the final in 2023 and 2020 but losing to Club León and Tigres, respectively. The black and gold limited Messi to just one shot on target from open play and Suárez didn’t fare any better, failing to test Lloris’ frame and largely going missing in the second half as LAFC seemed to control the run of play more effectively.

“We were active. I think [Messi] always had a black jersey in front of him,” Cherundolo said. “The only way to defend players of that quality and teams with that quality is with a collective effort.”

Before the second leg, LAFC has a winnable away match against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday. Houston lies in second-to-last in the Western Conference with just two points on the season.