“Playing in front of plastic fans!”
“Joey Barton (42) criticized Lionel Messi’s (37, Inter Miami) free kick,” the UK’s Sportkida reported on March 3.
Inter Miami defeated the Columbus Crew 3-2 behind a multi-goal performance from Messi in the 32nd round of the 2024 Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season at Lower Dot Com Field in Columbus, Ohio, USA, on Wednesday (March 3).
With the win, Miami clinched the MLS Supporters’ Shield with 68 points (20 W, 8 D, 4 L).
MLS is divided into the Eastern and Western conferences in the United States. The Supporters’ Shield is a trophy awarded to the team with the most points in the combined Eastern and Western conferences. The Supporters’ Shield is Miami’s because the LA Galaxy (61 points), currently in first place in the Western Conference, cannot surpass Miami’s points total even if they win all of their remaining matches.
With the win, Miami qualifies for the inaugural North American Champions League. They will compete in the North American Champions League next season as one of MLS’s representative teams.
Miami’s “breakout” was somewhat expected.
The addition of Messi, one of the greatest players in soccer history, was expected. Messi joined the club midway through the 2023 season and played in seven games of the 2023 Liga Cup, scoring 10 goals and providing one assist to lead the team to the title.
Along with Messi, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, and Luis Suarez, 토토사이트 Miami swept the United States in the 2024 season. Messi, in particular, was still in top form this season, scoring 17 goals and dishing out 10 assists for a whopping 27 offensive points in 17 games.
Messi’s goal in first-half stoppage time against the Columbus Crew was his 66th career free-kick, tying him with Ronaldinho and David Beckham for third place on the all-time free-kick goals list behind Juninho (77) and Pele (70).
This didn’t sit well with Barton, who is known as a “bad boy” and “outspoken,” who wrote on social media that “a female goalkeeper, Mary Epps, would have been able to stop this.
“The quality of the MLS is abysmal. It’s so sad to see Messi and Ronaldo playing in front of ‘plastic fans’ in a fake stadium. It feels like watching a Mayweather exhibition match,” he wrote, criticizing American soccer fans as ”plastic fans.
Messi, meanwhile, is on the verge of becoming Miami’s all-time leading scorer. The club’s current top scorer is Leonardo Campagna, who has 31 goals in 96 games. Messi is on pace for 30 goals. That’s an impressive feat in just 34 games. Suarez is fourth on the all-time list with 22 goals.
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