At noon on January 19 (Vietnam time), Messi with a very youthful new look and Inter Miami had a warm-up match for the 2025 season, drawing 2-2 with Club America (Mexico) in Las Vegas, witnessed by nearly 60,000 spectators at Allegiant Stadium.

Messi played 65 minutes in Inter Miami’s opening match of 2025 under new coach Javier Mascherano. The 37-year-old Argentine scored the equalizer in the 34th minute to make it 1-1, marking his 21st consecutive year of scoring.

However, overall, Inter Miami did not have a perfect opening match against Club America, when they had to struggle to come back in the last minute to tie the score at 2-2. Due to the tie, due to the rules of the match organizers, the two teams went to penalty kicks to determine the winner. In the end, Inter Miami won 3-2 after the penalty shootout.

Before that, the Mexican team was considered stronger with 3 consecutive recent Liga MX championships, quickly creating an advantage and scoring the opening goal in the 31st minute by player Henry Martin, after a mistake in the Inter Miami defense. 3 minutes later, the trio Messi, Suarez and Jordi Alba coordinated extremely well, and finally Messi received a beautiful opportunity from Suarez to head in close range to equalize the score 1-1 for Inter Miami.

Messi, Suarez and Jordi Alba are also the brightest spots in Inter Miami’s playing style in the new era of coach Javier Mascherano, when changing the playing style, becoming more direct and passing the ball more from the back.

Inter Miami no longer uses the same aggressive, possession-heavy style of play as in the 2024 season. Instead, they start slowly and steadily from the back, before launching more effective attacks.

However, since this is only the first official match, this style of play is not yet very smooth. Besides, Inter Miami’s force is in a period of many changes. New recruits such as goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo have just arrived and have played. In addition, striker Fafa Picault is still not in sync with Messi and Suarez in attack.

Therefore, Jordi Alba is the one who often moves up to support Messi and Suarez. This trio, who have played for many years at Barcelona, are extremely compatible. They are the ones who often cause difficulties for Club America’s defense.

Meanwhile, one of Inter Miami’s biggest weaknesses is that their defense has not been strengthened. Defensive midfielder Federico Redondo is still inexperienced, so he has not been able to provide the best support for the central defenders Tomas Aviles and Noah Allen (both only 20 years old). This has forced veteran Sergio Busquets to often drop back to cover.

The instability in the defense and the lack of coordination between goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo was the reason why Inter Miami conceded a goal in the 52nd minute when Israel Reyes scored to raise the score to 2-1 for Club America. It was not until the final minutes of the match that Inter Miami’s efforts were rewarded with an equalizer, 2-2, scored by Tomas Aviles after a close-range header.

This is considered a positive result for coach Javier Mascherano in his debut match leading Inter Miami. In addition, the quartet of Messi, Suarez, Jordi Alba and Busquets, despite their age, still show their class and good physical condition, helping this team enter the 2025 season with a lot of promise.