On Wednesday night in Monterrey it became clear that Leo Messi is human, or at least the other players around him are. The Rayados defeated Inter Miami with authority for the second consecutive time and got their ticket to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, in a match that had tempers heated by a mess that occurred in the first leg in Miami.
The local team took advantage of a mistake by the goalkeeper in the first half and from there everything went downhill to achieve classification with an overall score of 5 by 2the second was a great goal by Germán Berterame at 58 from outside the area and the third was a header through Jesús Gallardo at 64, Diego Gómez closed the gap at 85, but there was nothing more to do for Inter Miami.
Final score 3 for 1 for Monterrey, Messi did not play in the first leg and was not a factor in the second leg, although he generated a couple of opportunities in the first half. This was not enough for the Argentine star’s team to enjoy a direct ticket to the next Club World Cup.
In the semifinals of the also called Concachampions, Rayados will face the Columbus Crew, who on Tuesday made a splash by eliminating Tigres in Monterrey. In the other key there will be a Mexican duel between América and Pachuca, who combined to score 16 times against their rivals (the Águilas scored 9 against New England and the Tuzos scored 7 against Herediano).
From squad to squad, few could doubt that Rayados came in stronger than Inter Miami, with everything and the presence of Messi and his friends. However, what happened in last year’s Leagues Cup, when the MLS club took the title, was very fresh in the memory. Rayados finished fourth in that competition.
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