ATLANTA (AP) — The champions of Europe booted Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates out of the Club World Cup on Sunday.
Paris Saint-Germain, Messi's former club and the team that won the Champions League final only a few weeks ago, contained one of the game's greatest players at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and routed Inter Miami 4-0 in the round of 16.
Defensive struggles again plagued Miami with all four of PSG’s goals coming before halftime. An early injury to defender Noah Allen contributed to then team’s problems, while goalkeeper Oscar Ustari continued to excel.
Offensively, Messi and his forward line spent the majority of the first half in their own half. The second-half performance improved, but the team appeared to be overly reliant on a moment of Messi magic to help them advance.
Inter Miami was the only Major League Soccer team to advance to the expanded tournament's knockout round. The team defied expectations with a 2-1 victory over Portuguese club FC Porto, which was heavily favored going into the match.
That performance caught the attention of soccer fans around the world as Miami became the first MLS team to beat a European club in an official competition.
“I think we’ve performed at a high level,” Miami defender Jordi Alba said. “This will help us gain confidence and know that we can compete against anyone if we’re at the level we have been at this Club World Cup.”
Messi exits the tournament with a perfect record of group stage advancement. The Argentine has never been eliminated in the group stage of an official tournament, whether playing for a club or his Argentina national team.
Despite Sunday's loss, Miami's tournament play showed many positives as the team prepares to return to its MLS schedule. Besides the win over Porto, Miami also drew with Brazilian club Palmeiras, a team that advanced to the quarterfinals of the competition on Saturday.
Miami is in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with an 8-3-5 record, 11 points behind first-place Philadelphia Union.
Last season, Miami won the MLS Supporters' Shield for the league's best regular-season record.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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