\n
Lionel Messi’s impact on the field and opponents goes beyond whether he handles the ball or not. This was revealed after Inter Miami’s third match of the 2026 MLS season against DC United. <\/p>\n
Javier Mascherano’s team won 2-1, with Argentine Rodrigo de Paul and Messi scoring in the 17th and 27th minutes. Ty Balibo scored a goal for the home team in the 75th minute. However, coach Len Weiler revealed before the game how Leo’s presence affected his players. <\/p>\n
‘Messi effect’ hits United<\/h2>\n
Since joining Inter Miami in 2023, Lionel has transformed MLS and the club itself. His image has not only attracted thousands of fans to the league, but has also helped David Beckham’s side win four titles: the League Cup, Supporters’ Shield, Conference Champions and most recently, the MLS Cup. <\/p>\n
Now, when No. 10 and his teammates arrived at M&T Bank Stadium, the Argentine’s presence made an impact before he even touched the ball. <\/p>\n
After United’s defeat, coach Len Wyler confronted the press and, when asked to analyze the match, admitted that Messi had made his players “nervous”.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a little surprised because I was really nervous at the start,\u201d he said. “We got the ball easily with a simple pass and didn’t have a chance to score, but in the end it was a gift, a first goal, something unexpected. Maybe (the team) was a little nervous because of the atmosphere, the crowd in the stadium and of course our opponent Miami, but it shouldn’t have happened, but it happened,” he added (via Boravip). <\/p>\n
The truth is that even when he was with Barcelona, \u200b\u200bPSG or the Argentina national team, opponents planned games and strategized around Leo’s presence. The “Messi effect” forces opponents to closely monitor defenders, causing mistakes for the team and putting more psychological pressure on them from the start of the match.<\/p>\n
Leo, 38, has 899 goals in total and is just one goal away from reaching 900, thanks to his goal against United off an assist from Matteo Silvetti. <\/p>\n
In this way, Messi once again proved that his influence on the game is not only measured by goals and assists. Sometimes just his presence can change the game.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Inter Miami’s next game will be against Nashville SC in the Round of 16 of the Concaf Champions Cup at Geodis Park.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi’s impact on the field and opponents goes beyond whether he handles the ball or not. This was revealed after Inter Miami’s third match of the 2026 MLS season against DC United. Javier Mascherano’s team won 2-1, with Argentine Rodrigo de Paul and Messi scoring in the 17th and 27th minutes. Ty Balibo scored<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-25383","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest"},"yoast_head":"\n
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