Lionel Messi reaches incredible milestone after starring in Inter Miami's 4-0 win against Nashville in MLS Playoffs

Lionel Messi reached another milestone in Inter Miami's 4-0 win over Nashville SC on Saturday, November 8. He has now provided 400 assists for club and country in his career.

The Herons hosted Nashville at the Chase Stadium in the third match of their MLS playoffs first round on Saturday. Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the 10th minute before adding another in the 39th minute. Tadeo Allende then made it 3-0 in the 73rd minute. He added another three minutes later via an assist from Messi.

With that assist, the Argentine icon reached the 400-assist mark in his career, as per Opta. He has provided 37 assists for Inter Miami in 84 games, along with scoring 74 goals. He has recorded 60 assists in 195 games for Argentina and scored 114 goals.

Meanwhile, Lionel Messi provided 269 assists in 778 games for Barcelona, along with scoring 672 goals. He also provided 34 assists in 75 games for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and scored 32 goals.

The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has been in excellent form this season, scoring 40 goals and providing 19 assists in 45 games across competitions for Inter Miami.

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Javier Mascherano heaps praise on Lionel Messi as he helps Inter Miami beat Nashville

After the 4-0 win over Nashville SC on Saturday, Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano lauded Lionel Messi for his performance. He said that the captain led from the front, especially praising his pressing in the game.

Mascherano said (h/t The High Point Enterprise):

"I want to congratulate Leo for the game he played. He was the first one who guided us in high pressure. To see him press like that at 38 years old is crazy. We all know about Leo with the ball, but what happened with Leo without the ball today was impressive."

Assessing his team's performance on the night, Mascherano added:

"The team played an almost perfect game. There are always things to improve, but we were at a very high level in all lines, very intense from the first minute, very organized and very good in high pressure."

Inter Miami have now secured their qualification for the second round of the playoffs. They beat Nashville 5-2 in the first match of the first round of the qualifiers, lost 3-1 in the second, and then beat them 4-0 in the decider.

The Lionel Messi-led side will now face Cincinnati FC in the semi-finals at the TQL Stadium.