This time, unlike what he did against LAFC in the quarterfinals, Leo Messi couldn’t put on his superhero cape to save an Inter Miami side that had the mission of pulling off an impossible comeback… and were run over (1-3) by the Vancouver Whitecaps at Chase Stadium. With that, the dream of winning the ConcaChampions ended after a heavy elimination in the semifinal round.

The 10 minutes that doomed Inter Miami

Inter Miami was fully aware that they needed to mount an almost impossible comeback after losing the first leg in Canada, with goals at the start and end of the match. Especially because, since the arrival of Jesper Sorensen, the Vancouver Whitecaps hadn’t lost a match conceding three or more goals. “In the end, there are two ways to look at this: with the doubts from the first match or with the determination to pull off a historic feat for this club,” said Javier Mascherano before the game.

In fact, the plan started off as expected with an early goal from Jordi Alba in the ninth minute, assisted by Luis Suárez. However, despite piling on chances — including seven shots before halftime — Inter Miami couldn’t find the goal to level the aggregate score. From that point, the Whitecaps gained momentum and, in less than 10 minutes after the break, scored two goals that crushed Inter Miami’s hopes. Despite throwing everything forward, they conceded the final 1-3 goal with 20 minutes to go.

Mascherano remains confident in leading Inter Miami’s project

As a result, Inter Miami ends a ‘black week’ with three straight losses that cost them their unbeaten streak in MLS and a painful elimination from the ConcaChampions just shy of the final. “It hurts because we wanted to reach the final. What this group has achieved is incredible, but today that doesn’t matter much. We’re a young club, a young team, and hopefully this helps them gain experience so we can return to this competition and win it in the future,” Mascherano said after the match.

Naturally, his position as Inter Miami’s coach is now under threat, and it’s possible that David Beckham and Jorge Mas will make a drastic decision before the Club World Cup. Still, Mascherano is confident in his ability to keep leading the project. “In my sporting life I’ve had more moments like this than the good ones. And even though we play to win, I enjoy the challenge of bouncing back from moments like this. We have to move forward. Right now, our main focus is MLS. I'm not even thinking about the Club World Cup yet. We still have a month and a half before that.”