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Messi's Stunning Start to Life in North America

Messi's Stunning Start to Life in North America
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North American football has once again been transformed after another huge signing this summer with the arrival of the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, Lionel Messi.

The Argentine has completely turned around the form at Inter Miami and took them from one of the worst sides in MLS to a potential playoff contender.

How Has Inter Miami Changed Since Messi’s Arrival?

Contrary to discussions online, Messi has not actually played an MLS game just yet. The former Barcelona star left Paris Saint-Germain and joined Miami at a time where MLS had taken a break for the Leagues Cup.

The Leagues Cup is an annual tournament that sees Liga MX and MLS teams meet and Messi has managed to take Miami all the way to the final when they were one of the teams expected to not make it out of the group stages.

In fact, prior to his arrival, Miami had stunningly lost 14 of their 22 games in MLS with the club managing to score only 22 goals in 22 games and let in 36 - only Charlotte has let in more in the Eastern Conference and only Toronto has scored fewer.

Miami was also on an 11-game winless run in MLS which dated back to May, and Miami's only success has been in the U.S. Open Cup. In fact, they are also in the U.S. Open Cup semi-finals and Messi could get his hands on two trophies as a result.

After such a dreadful run of form in MLS, Miami has now won all six games at the Leagues Cup with him scoring in all of them.

Messi’s Stunning Goals Record

After a magical shot from distance rattled the back of the Philadelphia Union goal in the first half from Messi, the Argentine has now scored in every game and made it nine goals in six games for the Florida side.

As Messi scored in the first half once more that day, this now also means he has scored six of his goals inside the first 45 minutes, while the World Cup winner has also secured three braces in six games too.

Messi has also put together one assist for his new side too after creating a goal in the 4-0 win over Atlanta United where he also managed to score twice.

Messi’s arrival has been the most impressive we’ve ever seen on the North American scene, and he will no doubt go on to push Miami closer to the playoffs.

Home team
Away team
Probability %
1X2
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
LC
333235
2
1 - 2
3.52
25°
-
- - -
Pen.
FT
9 - 10
1 - 1(0 - 1)
Major League Soccer Eastern Conference
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Inter Miami CF 35 18 10 5 3 15
2
FC Cincinnati 33 16 10 3 3 7
3
New York Red Bulls 29 16 8 5 3 7
4
New York City FC 29 16 9 2 5 7
5
Charlotte FC 25 17 7 4 6 0
6
Columbus Crew 24 14 6 6 2 8
7
Toronto FC 24 17 7 3 7 0
8
Philadelphia Union 20 16 4 8 4 4
9
Nashville SC 19 16 4 7 5 -2
10
DC United 19 17 4 7 6 -6
11
Orlando City SC 17 16 4 5 7 -8
12
Montreal Impact 17 16 4 5 7 -12
13
Atlanta United 16 16 4 4 8 1
14
Chicago Fire 15 17 3 6 8 -12
15
New England Revolution 10 14 3 1 10 -16
Major League Soccer Western Conference
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Real Salt Lake 33 17 9 6 2 17
2
Los Angeles FC 30 16 9 3 4 9
3
Minnesota United 28 15 8 4 3 7
4
Los Angeles Galaxy 28 17 7 7 3 6
5
Vancouver Whitecaps 25 16 7 4 5 5
6
Austin FC 23 17 6 5 6 -4
7
Houston Dynamo 22 16 6 4 6 0
8
Colorado Rapids 22 17 6 4 7 -2
9
Portland Timbers 20 17 5 5 7 0
10
Seattle Sounders 18 16 4 6 6 0
11
Saint Louis City 17 15 3 8 4 -2
12
FC Dallas 13 15 3 4 8 -7
13
Sporting Kansas City 11 16 2 5 9 -7
14
San Jose Earthquakes 11 16 3 2 11 -15

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