CF Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA is one of the crown jewels of North American soccer. Tucked into a valley in the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range, it is a futuristic, metal-and-concrete venue with brutalist touches. Like a spaceship that’s come to earth, the place is wrapped in shimmering aluminum over a steel substructure, something that’s led locals to refer to it as El Gigante de Acero — the steel giant.
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Climb high enough in the stadium’s upper bowl and the venue’s most distinct feature comes into view. Cerro de la Silla is a nearly 6,000-foot mountain whose peak looms large over the opening in the stadium’s roof, offering one of the most scenic views in global football. During matches in the late afternoon, the sun filters through translucent sections of the stadium and casts playful shadows on the pitch.
The World Cup last came here in 1986 and the shadows cast across the field in Monterrey harken back to the imagery surrounding that tournament: Argentine legend Diego Maradona sprinting across sun and shade, in one short stretch scoring arguably the greatest goal in the history of the World Cup and also providing its most infamous moment. Maradona left that tournament a hero, carried off on the shoulders of his teammates after winning it all. The World Cup will return here in 2026, 40 years on from that fateful moment.
Tonight, Maradona’s Argentine heir has come to Mexico. Lionel Messi and Inter Miami are visiting BBVA to finish a CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal against Monterrey. The stakes are lower for Messi than they were for Maradona, with the 36-year-old having already won all the biggest trophies for club and country. But there is still tremendous intrigue surrounding this match, Messi’s first and maybe last-ever competitive game in Mexico.
Messi does not enjoy the sort of adulation in Mexico that he does elsewhere in the world. The country has its own sporting legends and Messi’s presence has been so scarce here that few have formed any real attachment to him. Tonight, it’s apparent that the Argentine won’t enjoy the effusive treatment he’s received in road matches in Major League Soccer. There are very few Messi jerseys in the crowd and when his name is announced in the starting lineup, the boos are deafening. They’re topped only by jeers hurled at Miami coach Tata Martino, who made himself persona non-grata in Mexico after leading the men’s national team to a group-stage elimination at the 2022 World Cup.
🤠 MONTERREY ELIMINÓ A MIAMI Y…
La afición hasta empezó a cantarle a Messi: “Cristiano Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo” 🔥😨
🎥 @AranzaStm pic.twitter.com/r3eoGRoLbG
— FOX Sports MX (@FOXSportsMX) April 11, 2024
Even so, Messi and the rest of Miami’s star-studded lineup have visions of grandeur. Down 2-1 after the first leg in South Florida, they’ve come to one of the most fearsome venues in Mexican soccer hellbent on doing what few MLS sides have done: win a knockout series in Mexico.
That competitive fire has been stoked in recent days by a dustup in the tie’s opening leg; one which saw Martino, Messi, Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba engaged in a shouting match with Monterrey’s coaching staff outside of the locker room. The interaction has created a feeding frenzy in the press and has given the match an even bigger feel.
The crowd here in Monterrey is pulsing and full of energy. Pyrotechnics ignite as both teams take the pitch. Miami’s young and inexperienced bench looks doe-eyed as they arrive in the dugout. The noise and fury of the place is like nothing they’ve seen in MLS.
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The night before, the Columbus Crew shocked Liga MX powerhouse Tigres in a shootout victory at Estadio Universitario, just across town. Miami’s dreams of a comeback, though, evaporate about a half an hour into the match, when a goalkeeping gaffe hands Monterrey the opening goal and puts Miami down by two on aggregate. Things go from bad to worse early in the second half when Monterrey gets another. By the end, Miami is humiliated, with Messi openly expressing his frustration at his teammates. Alba isn’t even around to get yelled at — he was sent off late in the match after losing his cool at an opponent.
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In the end, Messi and Miami’s quest to make noise in Monterrey ends with a whimper. The Argentine and his teammates walk off the field while 50,000 fans belt out a Norteño — the traditional music of the region — in celebration. The squandered opportunity is a huge loss for Miami and maybe an even bigger one for MLS. Gone is the opportunity for the highest-profile team in MLS history to claim continental glory. Gone is this particular opportunity for Miami to play against the world’s best at the Club World Cup next year, the prize afforded by continental dominance.
And gone is Lionel Messi from Mexico, ferried away on a bus, not on his teammate’s shoulders.
Inter Miami’s hotel in Monterrey is an ornate, five-star facility tucked away in the heart of the city’s fashion district, its equivalent to Rodeo Drive. The hotel has been fully barricaded in anticipation of Messi’s arrival and is guarded by about a dozen police, many decked out in riot gear. On Tuesday, a day before Miami’s encounter with Los Rayados, wealthy shoppers, students from the local private high school and corporate types all mingle in the mid-afternoon haze.
The cops may have been needed the day before, when Miami arrived at the hotel to find hundreds of shrieking fans eager to get a peek at Messi and friends. Things are much calmer today, with about 20 curiosity seekers lined up around the hotel’s perimeter. Their interest is piqued when a tour bus rumbles by, presumably carrying Miami’s players. Their excitement is quelled when they realize it’s the Columbus Crew delegation, which is staying at an adjacent facility. Even the Crew’s players can’t help but be curious; a couple film the scene outside Miami’s hotel through the bus windows.
Mixed in with the crowd is a floppy-haired seven-year-old named Elian. He’s decked out in Argentina’s signature baby blue and white with Messi’s name and the numbers peeling off his back. Elian is accompanied by his uncle, who brought him here from Tijuana, some 1,500 miles away. He looks down and shifts nervously.
Is Monterrey his favorite team? Elian shakes his head sheepishly. No. It’s not Club Tijuana, either — his favorite team is Argentina. All he wants tonight, he says, is a photo with Messi.
At the moment, the Argentine is watching Wednesday afternoon’s Champions League encounter between Paris Saint Germain and Barcelona – the only two professional clubs Messi ever knew before he arrived in Miami, both of which squandered their relationships with the Argentine. At Barcelona, financial troubles led to a forced exile, one Messi still resents to this day. Things never went all that well at PSG, where Messi struggled to adapt to life in Paris and clashed with club leadership before leaving for MLS.
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Before he’d even played a minute for Miami, though, club owners David Beckham and Jorge Mas believed they had already struck gold. Pre-Messi, Inter Miami was a bottom-of-the-table club. The franchise had sputtered out of the gate in 2020, losing games and credibility.
“Is it good enough? No, we want to succeed on the field. We want to win trophies. That’s the most important thing,” said Beckham said during a roundtable discussion with a group of reporters last July, three days before Messi’s debut. “We do feel that we’ve succeeded, but short-term success, we have Lionel Messi. That’s success.”
With Messi on board, Miami’s win-loss record became a secondary narrative; the Fort Lauderdale-based club had become the most talked-about brand in the world. The financial returns of Messi’s presence in MLS are also already evident. His Inter Miami jersey is among the highest-selling in the world, and today, outside of the hotel, almost everybody waiting to get a peek at the Argentine is sporting one, and often the newest version with the club’s new front-of-shirt sponsor, Royal Caribbean cruise lines.
Among them is Carlos, a 25-year-old who lives two hours away in Chiapas. He brought along a pair of friends. The trio paid three times the price of a regular match ticket, roughly $550, to see Messi live for the first time.
“Yes, of course (I have his shirt,)” he says as a police officer keeps watch behind him. “I have their home jersey and I’m going to buy the black one, too. Even after Messi leaves (MLS) I’ll keep watching. I subscribed for the MLS Season Pass because of him.”
In many ways, Carlos is MLS’s dream consumer, the type of international fan MLS has struggled to attract. And Messi’s presence in MLS has led to a sizable influx of attention from abroad.
There’s a narrative right now, on social media especially, that Mexican soccer is in a downturn. Mexico’s national team has struggled to compete with the U.S. men for a stretch and Liga MX has tightened its ties with MLS in recent years, seeking financial gain. The two leagues are partners in Leagues Cup, their annual midseason tournament that pits every one of MLS and Liga MX’s clubs against each other. It’s a controversial tournament in Mexico, due at least in part to the fact that all the games take place in the United States.
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Boosters will frequently tout MLS’s growth from a business perspective, saying that other leagues around the world have begun to study its business model. Some MLS fans care about this sort of news, but a much larger segment measures the league’s growth by looking at how it does in meaningful competition against other teams in the region, particularly Mexican teams.
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MLS seemed to be making inroads in 2022 when it finally won the CONCACAF Champions League, the predecessor to the Champions Cup. But the broader picture is still fairly bleak. Just in this year’s knockout round, Inter Miami, the Philadelphia Union and the New England Revolution were outscored by their Mexican opponents by a combined total of 20-4.
The Crew’s victory did manage to break the crust of apathy that exists towards MLS amongst Liga MX fans. They won in Mexico and did something even rarer, play attractive football. The Mexican press took note, with some wondering whether MLS was finally making significant inroads in terms of quality.
That lasted less than 24 hours. In the later stages of Wednesday night’s encounter between Miami and Monterrey, two reporters offered their own evaluation of MLS’ quality as Messi and Co. struggled.
“Esto es MLS.”
“This,” one said to the other, unimpressed, “is MLS.”
It’s after Miami’s elimination inside the Estadio BBVA press area, and Martino is facing the music. He’s well-practiced at doing media, having led the Mexico and Argentina national teams and Barcelona as well. Martino blames Miami’s poor second-half performance on Monterrey’s second goal in the 58th minute that virtually ended the tie.
He also mentions the lack of depth on Inter Miami’s roster, particularly the inexperience that litters his bench — and the long list of key injuries that the team currently has — as additional factors. The coach didn’t make a single substitution in the second leg, even as his side struggled.
Martino has been public about the challenges posed by MLS roster restrictions before, sometimes saying that Miami is still missing pieces, or that the mere presence of Messi or the club’s other superstars won’t guarantee victory. Those thoughts surface once again when Martino is asked about MLS’ role in the continued failure of their clubs to win in continental competition. His answer would make headlines around Latin America.
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“Until MLS relaxes its many (roster) rules in order to build more robust squads, where player absences, injuries, suspensions aren’t as difficult to overcome, evidently (Liga MX) will have an advantage,” Martino says.
Miami midfielder Julian Gressel gets the same line of questioning as Martino. He makes it clear that there’s little excuse for Miami’s performance on Wednesday, mentioning that the Columbus Crew managed a result against Tigres just across town a night prior. But he can’t help but mirror Martino.
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“I think if you compare our bench to Monterrey’s, you get a pretty good picture of what it’s like,” he said. “I hope that MLS will take the right steps to potentially, in the future, be able to have a deeper roster so that you can compare a little bit more and you can kind of make a push for this competition more.”
Inter Miami’s elimination won’t drastically change how MLS operates. But on Wednesday, it was evident how frustrated Messi was with the lack of quality from his Inter Miami teammates. That shouldn’t be taken lightly. If Messi has considered extending his contract with Inter Miami beyond 2025, being stuck on a struggling team that’s hamstrung by MLS roster rules could make him reconsider.
The Athletic reported on Wednesday that MLS will allow teams more spending flexibility during the summer transfer window. It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s only a step.
Words from figures like Martino, Gressel and others who have pushed back on MLS’ conservative approach to roster management only mean so much on the global stage. Messi has a much larger platform. He rarely speaks, and when he does, his words are amplified and analyzed.
There’s still plenty for Inter Miami to play for. They remain among the favorites to win MLS Cup and they’ll seek to defend their Leagues Cup title from 2023. Yet Messi, who will own a stake in Inter Miami after his contract concludes, has already verbalized the dilemma his arrival would present to MLS.
“I think (MLS) has every opportunity to (grow),” Messi told ESPN after his introductory press conference last August. “That growth depends a lot on the league. It’s an ideal time to grow. There are important competitions upcoming that will be played in this country. It’s time for the league to make that leap and finish growing, finish looking for what it’s been seeking for a while.
“Everything is in place here to witness top-level soccer because of the country, the structure, and a bunch of other things. Hopefully MLS can grow in that way.”
(Top photo: Hector Vivas/Getty Images)