FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Inter Miami captain Lionel Messi paid tribute to Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets after helping his longtime teammates retire with one final trophy in Saturday’s MLS Cup final.
Miami beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 at Chase Stadium to deliver Miami’s first MLS Cup title since joining the league in 2020 as an expansion team.
The title was a 44th major honor of Messi’s senior career, with many won alongside Alba and Busquets at Barcelona.
– Messi leads Miami to ‘beautiful’ 1st MLS Cup title
– Miami’s maiden MLS Cup title caps off a long ambitious project
Once Alba and Busquets announced their impending retirement from football ahead of the playoffs, the team hoped to see the two Spanish greats walk away from the game with a last piece of silverware.
«[It’s] special because we also arrived here together from the beginning, the three of us, and the objective, as I said before, was this: to win this title, which is very important for the growth of the club,» Messi told ESPN.
«And I’m truly happy that they can leave in this way, celebrating a title. They are the best friends, I love them very much, I’m grateful to have shared almost my entire career playing with them and ending it with them like this.
«I wish them the best.»
Alba and Busquets joined Inter Miami alongside Messi in the summer of 2023, immediately winning the inaugural Leagues Cup trophy together before going on to win the 2024 Supporters’ Shield and set the league record for most points in a single season.
Another former Barcelona player, Javier Mascherano, later joined his former teammates when being appointed head coach in November 2024.
«The joy and the power of saying goodbye to two football legends, in the best possible way, as they deserved, with a great send-off,» said Mascherano.
«Two players have made history at this club, have completely transformed it along with Leo. Today they are part of the great history of this club, which is very short, very small, but that’s what they came for, to change the course of this club.
«So I’m happy about that because I know what it meant for them to leave in this way.
Messi delivered two assists in Saturday’s final for second-half goals from Rodrigo De Paul and Tadeo Allende after an own goal from Vancouver’s Édier Ocampo had put Miami ahead in the eighth minute.
Following Miami’s third goal that effectively the sealed the trophy in stoppage time, an ecstatic Mascherano ran on the field to embrace Alba one last time.
«I approached Jordi [after the goal] because Busquets was too far away,» Mascherano said.
