Atlanta United took a dig at their MLS rivals, Inter Miami, and their absent captain, Lionel Messi, after they rallied from behind to secure a 5-2 victory.
Despite Lionel Messi’s return to training on Thursday and Friday after representing Argentina during the international break, the 36-year-old chose not to travel to Atlanta over the weekend. This decision meant that the World Cup winner didn’t participate in the match, especially on the opposing team’s artificial turf. Inter Miami’s head coach, Tata Martino, clarified that Messi’s absence was due to “muscular fatigue” and was a prudent decision.
Although Inter Miami managed to secure a win against Sporting Kansas City the previous weekend without their star player, they certainly felt his absence a week later. In addition to Messi, summer signing Jordi Alba also didn’t play, but Sergio Busquets featured for the entire 90 minutes in midfield.
Former Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets, along with former Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Leonardo Campana, initially gave Inter Miami an early lead. However, Atlanta turned the tables by scoring three goals in eight minutes, leading 3-1 at halftime.
Even though the Ecuadorian international reduced the deficit after halftime, Atlanta secured two more goals through former Celtic striker Giorgos Giakoumakis and substitute Tyler Wolff. Following the final whistle, Atlanta United took to social media to mock Messi and Inter Miami relentlessly.
Immediately after the referee’s final whistle, the team’s account posted, “Tell ‘em to bring the whole squad next time.” Shortly after, their Spanish-language account used Messi’s recent Instagram activity to mock him.
On Friday night, Messi shared an Instagram story displaying a pizza he ordered from a Miami-based restaurant, which quickly went viral. Many interpreted this as a hint that he wouldn’t be playing in the weekend’s game. The pizza itself drew criticism online for its lack of cheese and pizza sauce, featuring sliced tomatoes and green olives instead.
Atlanta United had some fun with this by rearranging the toppings to form an ‘L’ on the pizza, symbolizing Inter Miami’s loss on the pitch. The translated Spanish caption read, “Here you have your pizza for the trip.”
Atlanta United trolled Messi by turning the toppings on the pizza that he posted on Friday night into an L after defeating Inter Miami 😭 pic.twitter.com/xRTFvZld2g
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 17, 2023
However, Atlanta’s English account didn’t stop there. They posted another edited image mocking Messi’s absence, featuring him for a brief moment at Apple’s recent iPhone launch event. During the presentation, a demonstration showed how sports scores could be sent as notifications to users. Their hypothetical example was a push notification of Messi scoring against Atlanta in the eighth minute.
Using a screenshot from the presentation, Atlanta created their own version of the notification, displaying the full-time score from Saturday’s game. With this defeat, Inter Miami now finds themselves seven points behind the final playoff spot with seven league games left to play.
Additionally, Inter Miami remains in contention for the U.S. Open Cup, with the final against the Houston Dynamo scheduled for next week.
Tell ‘em to bring the whole squad next time 👋#WeAreTheA pic.twitter.com/AD9KriEb9Y
— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) September 16, 2023
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini
ArgentinaThis season he played in total 3 times for 210 minutes for Major League Soccer.
Lionel Messi scored 1 goal for Inter Miami. He procured twice assists. He received no yellow cards and no red cards.
His team is currently 14th in Major League Soccer. In the last match Inter Miami lost 5-2 against Atlanta United.
Inter Miami performance and stats
Inter Miami
Inter Miami is currently 14th in the Major League Soccer with 28 points.
In the last 27 games, it has won 8 times, drawn 4 times, and lost 15 times. In its last match, Inter Miami lost 5-2 against Atlanta United.
It has a negative goal difference after scoring 32 goals and conceding 44.
Inter Miami will play the next match in Major League Soccer against Toronto on Wednesday 20th of September in Fort Lauderdale. The prediction is Inter Miami winning the match.
Atlanta United performance and stats
Atlanta United
Atlanta United is currently 6th in the Major League Soccer with 45 points.
In the last 29 games, it has won 12 times, drawn 9 times, and lost 8 times. In its last match, Atlanta United won 5-2 against Inter Miami.
It has a positive goal difference after scoring 56 goals and conceding 45.
Atlanta United will play the next match in Major League Soccer against DC United on Wednesday 20th of September in Washington. The prediction is DC United winning the match.
