FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Inter Miami star Lionel Messi started Wednesday’s match on a tear, assisting and scoring a goal in the first 23 minutes against Nashville SC in the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup round-of-16 bout.

But five minutes into the second half, Messi came off the pitch as a surprise substitute. Messi experienced some discomfort in his right hamstring, and left the match as a precaution.

Inter Miami didn’t need him anymore, anyway, defeating Nashville 3-1 – and 5-3 on aggregate – to advance to the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup tournament.

Inter Miami awaits the winner of CF Monterrey and FC Cincinnati in the next round. Those teams will play in Mexico on Thursday night, with Monterrey up 1-0.

What did Inter Miami coach Tata Martino say about Lionel Messi injury?

“We didn’t want to run a risk,” Inter Miami coach Tata Martino said of Messi, who has scored five goals in six matches overall this season. “We tried to see if he could go a little longer, but we preferred for him to get out of the game.”

Martino said Messi undergo imaging to see the extent of his injury, and would not be available for Inter Miami’s match Saturday against D.C. United at Audi Field in Washington D.C.

“I don’t want to risk it, but I would imagine for Saturday’s match he will not be available,” Martino said. “Looking ahead, we’ll evaluate. He’ll get some imaging done. And we’ll see how it develops.”

How did Messi perform against Nashville SC in Champions Cup?

Messi assisted on Luis Suárez’s goal in the eighth minute of the match, and scored in the 23rd minute after an assist from Diego Gomez to give Inter Miami a 2-0 lead early in the first half.

Messi joined his teammates for the start of the second half, but walked off the pitch after five minutes with Robert Taylor coming into the match.

Nashville coach Gary Smith’s reaction to Messi’s early exit? “Thank goodness,” he said.

Ultimately, Messi’s early exit did not matter.

Taylor scored a header goal from Suárez about 13 minutes after entering the game to give Inter Miami a 3-0 lead, and secure a major cushion over Nashville.

It was Messi and Suárez who rescued Inter Miami when Nashville took a 2-0 lead in the first leg of their Champions Cup matchup. And it was the dynamic duo who has fueled Inter Miami’s quarterfinal berth.

“They started very, very brightly and we were not able to control the first 15 minutes,” Smith said. “It won them the game.”

Nashville’s Sam Surridge scored in the 92nd minute to spoil Inter Miami goalie Drake Callender’s clean sheet.

It was the second time Inter Miami beat Nashville in four matches – the most frequent opponent Messi has faced in MLS. Although the previous three matches were draws, the first ended in 10-9 penalty kicks with Inter Miami winning the Leagues Cup tournament on Aug. 19, 2023.

Robert Taylor goal: inter Miami 3, Nashville 0

Robert Taylor rose in the air, and delivered a beauty of a header to give Inter Miami a 3-0 lead over Nashville on Wednesday night.

Taylor received the ball from Luis Suárez, who also scored earlier in the match.

Inter Miami has a 5-2 lead in aggregate, and easing any concern why Lionel Messi was pulled early in the second half.

Lionel Messi subs out in 50th minute: Inter Miami 2, Nashville 0

Lionel Messi is coming off the pitch, leaving the game after being substituted in the 50th minute – just five minutes after the second half began.

It’s unclear why Messi has left early, perhaps a precaution with a match Saturday against D.C. United and two matches with Argentina later this month.

But the window as opened for Nashville to jump back into this game.

Messi scores goal: Inter Miami 2, Nashville 0

Lionel Messi thought he got fouled, but didn’t give up on the play.

Diego Gomez penetrated and dished to Messi, who did the rest with his legendary left boot in the 23rd minute.

Luis Suárez goal: Inter Miami 1, Nashville 0

Inter Miami is on the board, and Lionel Messi’s impact has already been felt.

Messi found close friend Luis Suárez open for a breakaway goal in the 8th minute of the match.

The score came right after Messi’s first shot on goal was too high. But Inter Miami has an early lead over Nashville, and a 3-2 lead in the aggregate.

Messi gets foul, free kick: Inter Miami 0, Nashville 0

Messi broke away with a head of steam in the fourth minute, and was fouled as he approached the penalty area.

But Messi’s free kick collided into a wall of defenders.

It was a moment where Messi’s acceleration was on prime display, but an early opportunity Inter Miami could not convert.

How to watch Inter Miami vs. Nashville SC live stream

The Inter Miami vs. Nashville match kicks off at 8:15 p.m. ET on FS2 in English and TUDN in Spanish. 

TICKETS: See Messi and Inter Miami in person vs. Nashville SC

SHOP: Get the latest Messi and Inter Miami gear from the MLS Store

Starting 11s for Inter Miami, Nashville SC

Lionel Messi, as well as his former FC Barcelona teammates Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, are in the starting lineup for Inter Miami. Alba started Sunday’s game, while Busquets and Suárez came on as second-half substitutes.

For Nashville SC, Taylor Washington starts in place of two-time MLS Defender of the Year Walker Zimmerman, who suffered a knee injury in last week’s Concacaf Champions Cup game vs. Inter Miami.

Messi arrives for Inter Miami vs. Nashville SC

All smiles from Messi and he walked into Chase Stadium for tonight’s match.

Inter Miami vs. Nashville score predictions

Safid Deen, Lionel Messi reporter, USA TODAY:

Inter Miami 3, Nashville 2: Messi and Luis Suárez need to lead the way again for Inter Miami, but they won’t trail from the jump like the first leg. Still, Nashville will be persistent and test Miami like they have in three previous matchups. 

Jacob Shames, Nashville SC beat writer, The Tennessean:

Messi is a ‘conundrum’ for Nashville coach Gary Smith

Nashville will face Messi for the fourth time — the most of any opponent since he joined Inter Miami and MLS.

“You try to set up a group to try and limit what he’s able to do. He’s proved throughout his career, at the very best levels,” Smith said. “No matter how good you are defensively or how organized you are, the caliber of the individual will always find a way.”

Inter Miami vs. Nashville Champions Cup highlights

What happened in the first matchup? Messi scored a goal in the 52nd minute, while Luis Suárez’s header in the fifth minute of extra time helped Inter Miami storm back to finish a 2-2 draw against Nashville in the first leg last Thursday. Nashville’s Jacob Shaffelburg scored twice in the opening minutes of each half to give his side a 2-0 lead.

What does Inter Miami need to advance in Champions Cup? 

Inter Miami needs an outright win, or a 0-0 draw or 1-1 draw to advance. 

What does Nashville need to advance in Champions Cup? 

Nashville needs an outright win, or a draw with the score of at least 3 goals to advance.

What if Inter Miami and Nashville need a tiebreaker in Champions Cup? 

If the aggregate score, or the results of both matches added together remains tied, away goals will work as the first tiebreaker. 

If Inter Miami and Nashville play to another 2-2 draw Wednesday, they will play extra time. If the score remains tied, it will be decided by penalty kicks. 

What’s next for the Inter Miami-Nashville winner?

The Inter Miami-Nashville winner will face either LIGA MX side C.F. Monterrey or MLS side FC Cincinnati, the 2023 Supporters’ Shield winners. 

The quarterfinals for the Concacaf Champions Cup will be held April 2-11.

What is Messi and Inter Miami’s upcoming schedule? 

Messi will likely play his final match of the month with Inter Miami on Saturday, before joining Argentina for two Copa America warmups later this month. 

Inter Miami visits D.C. United on Saturday. Then, Messi will join Argentina for a match against El Salvador in Philadelphia on March 22, and Costa Rica in Los Angeles on March 26. 

Messi could miss two Inter Miami games: Inter Miami vs. New York Red Bulls on March 23 and Inter Miami vs. New York City FC on March 30 for rest purposes. 

Lionel Messi had Inter Miami on a roll in the Concacaf Champions Cup, thanks to his latest goal.

Messi received an assist from Diego Gomez, and his legendary left boot did the rest.

Messi gave Inter Miami a 2-0 lead over Nashville SC on Wednesday night en route to a 3-1 victory — and 5-3 on aggregate — to advance to the Champions Cup quarterfinals.

Messi stretched his arms out like he normally does to celebrate, hugging teammates Luis Suarez and Gomez after the score.

Meanwhile, the Inter Miami bench celebrated with more enthusiasm – on the brink of a trip to the Champions Cup quarterfinals.

It’s the fifth goal Messi has scored this season in all competitions, and his second against Nashville in as many games.

Messi was subbed off in the 50th minute and replaced by Robert Taylor, who scored a goal of his own in the 63rd minute.

Nobody knows Luis Suárez like Lionel Messi.

The Inter Miami stars connected for an early goal eight minutes into Wednesday’s Concacaf Champions Cup match against Nashville SC in highlight fashion yet again.

Messi received a pass and found Suárez in stride, and the Uruguayan striker made sure it found the back of the net.

It’s like Messi knew exactly where Suárez was going to be, and placed the ball directly in his path.

It’s the fourth goal Suárez has scored in his Inter Miami stint, joining Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba as former FC Barcelona stars in Major League Soccer.

Messi later added a goal of his own as Inter Miami built a 2-0 first-half lead. It would go on to win, 3-1 (5-3 on aggregate) to advance to the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals.

Nearly three decades ago, Michigan State University offered Tom Izzo a five-year, $540,000 contract to be its next men’s basketball coach. He didn’t bother countering or negotiating. In fact, he didn’t even have an agent.

In the years since, Izzo has led the Spartans to eight Final Four appearances and a national championship in 2000 – emerging as one of the sport’s iconic coaches and, in many ways, the face of the university. His contracts have gotten more lucrative and complex as a result, but he said his approach at Michigan State hasn’t changed.

‘I’ve never negotiated a contract,’ Izzo told USA TODAY Sports. ‘Ever.’

Nor does he have an agent.

‘I heard I’m one of the only dumb ones,’ he added, with a laugh.

IT’S BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY’s NCAA tournament bracket contest for a chance at $1 million prize.

It’s no surprise that Izzo, who spent 12 seasons as a Michigan State assistant before being promoted to head coach in 1995, is once again among the highest-paid men’s basketball coaches in the country in 2024. According to USA TODAY Sports’ annual review of coaching compensation, the 69-year-old is making roughly $6.2 million this season, which puts him third behind only Bill Self of Kansas and John Calipari of Kentucky.

What’s unusual, however, is the way that Izzo and Michigan State have gotten to this point – piecing together big-money contracts for almost 30 years with little public acrimony, even as Izzo’s stature has grown, administrators have come and gone, and the landscape of college sports has shifted.

“It was not common, not normal,” Izzo said. “I think, in this day and age, could I have made more money? Sure. Could I have made more money by leaving? Sure. But I’m also a relationship-based guy over a transaction-based guy. And I had good relationships.”

Tom Izzo is face of Michigan State, community

Following the recent retirements of Mike Krzyzewski at Duke and Jim Boeheim at Syracuse, few current men’s basketball coaches have more cachet at their schools than Izzo – a man so entwined with Michigan State that the university’s new football facility bears his name.

His friends note that he has been a constant – and, in many ways, an ambassador – for a university that has dealt with its fair share of tragedy and controversy in recent years, including the Larry Nassar scandal and Mel Tucker’s firing for sexual harassment.

In the aftermath of an on-campus shooting last year, Izzo was among those asked to speak at a vigil.

“He’s a face of Michigan, in a way,” former Michigan State athletics director Mark Hollis said. “(University of) Michigan fans respect Tom Izzo. He’s got that kind of role here, in the state.”

And yet, Hollis and other former administrators at the school insist that Izzo has shown little interest in using that stature – or sporadic interest from NBA teams – to squeeze money out of his employer. He said he has never felt the need to involve an agent. And Michigan State has made sure he never had a reason to do so, taking steps to proactively raise his salary or give him new perks.

Under the terms of his contract, Izzo has the choice to transition into the role of “special university advisor to the athletic director” for up to six years. That role would pay him $6.2 million in his first year and $750,000 each year for five years thereafter.  

“I don’t want to sound like I’m some great guy that just said, ‘I don’t care about the money,’ ” Izzo said. “Everybody cares about the money. I just had faith that my people would treat me fairly.”

Tom Izzo’s career payday upward of $93M as head coach

For Izzo, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016, the approach has no doubt paid off.

According to USA TODAY Sports research, he has pocketed a colossal amount of money in his 29 years as the head coach of Michigan State – at least $93 million in salaries and bonuses, not adjusted for inflation.

While he has never been the highest-paid coach in the country, he has never ranked worse than seventh since USA TODAY Sports started tracking men’s basketball compensation in 2006-07.

I don’t want to sound like I’m some great guy that just said, ‘I don’t care about the money.’ Everybody cares about the money. I just had faith that my people would treat me fairly.

Tom Izzo, Michigan State men’s basketball coach

But Peter McPherson, who hired Izzo and handled several of his coaching contracts as Michigan State’s president from 1993 to 2004, believes the university has gotten plenty out of the relationship, too.

‘Izzo has earned his money many times over, when you look at what he’s brought to the school, the image,’ said McPherson, who went on to spend 16 years as the president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities after leaving East Lansing.

‘He’s been a unifier in these fairly troubled times in recent years, a spokesman of ethical behavior and common sense. His unifying voice has been extremely good for Michigan State.’

McPherson hired Izzo in 1995 on a starting salary of $108,000 per year. He quickly increased Izzo’s compensation package to $440,000 and $600,000 when the program started winning.

The 83-year-old said he made a conscious effort to stay ahead of the market, and he always dealt with Izzo directly on contractual issues.

“I don’t know who Tom talked to, but he wasn’t uninformed,” McPherson said. “He had a pretty good idea of what other people were making and some of the considerations.”

Tom Izzo: ‘I liked where I was at. I liked the way I was treated’

By the time the Spartans won the 2000 national championship, Izzo was making north of $725,000 – with nearly $200,000 more in potential bonuses, and a base salary that had even surpassed McPherson’s. Athletics department revenues were up. University fundraising had skyrocketed. Then, the Atlanta Hawks came calling.

In the first significant courtship of Izzo, the NBA franchise offered him a reported $3 million per year. He rejected Atlanta’s offer and told reporters he would not be seeking a raise, endearing him to local fans.

“Just about every job I was offered was more money than I was making,” Izzo recalled to USA TODAY Sports. “I don’t know. I liked where I was at. I liked the way I was treated. I felt like they appreciated me, and I appreciated them. How backwards is that? That’s illegal nowadays, isn’t it?”

While Izzo stresses that he never negotiated a deal with Michigan State, that’s at least in part because the university did its best to beat him to the punch.

After the Atlanta job fizzled, for example, McPherson upped Izzo’s base pay to $1.3 million and invested $300,000 more per year on his behalf in a university investment account – with the coach eligible to withdraw the money, and any earnings, if he remained in the job five years later. Private donors pledged to give him an additional longevity bonus of $3.4 million, which he earned in 2006.

‘You eat what you kill,’ MSU trustee Joel Ferguson told The Lansing State Journal at the time. ‘And he has killed enough to eat.”

Relationship with Michigan State works because of transparency

Atlanta was hardly the only suitor that came calling for Izzo over the years. The Cleveland Cavaliers wanted to hire him as their head coach in 2010, and Kentucky and Oregon were among the top-tier college programs who were rumored to have pursued him.

“The only sneaky thing I ever did with him is Kentucky was pursuing him once, and I knew the day that they were going to make the phone call,” Hollis recalled. “So I took him to the Masters. And you couldn’t take your phone on the course.”

Hollis was Michigan State’s athletics director from 2008 to 2018, but his relationship with Izzo stretched back decades before that; They were roommates in East Lansing in the mid-1980s, and Izzo was the best man at Hollis’ wedding.

Hollis believes Izzo is unique not because he repeatedly passed on opportunities to leave Michigan State but because of the unusual transparency with which he handled those opportunities. On multiple occasions, for example, Izzo invited Hollis to sit in on phone conversations with NBA owners about potential job offers and salary details.

Even considering their personal relationship, that’s almost unheard of in the cloak-and-dagger coaching searches of today.

“There are coaches that will use rumors like ‘this pro team or this college team wants me, what are you going to do?’” Hollis said. “Tom did not ever play that game with me when I was an AD.”

Hollis said thorny situations such as NBA offers were made easier because Izzo didn’t have an agent – many of whom, in Hollis’ view, “would leverage even the sniff of an opportunity against a school to get a raise.”

Izzo stressed that he doesn’t have anything against agents or coaches who hire them, and he noted that he has sought advice on his contracts and career from various people over the years – including former agent and Michigan State alum Molly Fletcher. Fletcher counseled Izzo in a variety of areas, including speaking and branding opportunities, but did not formally involve herself in his contract negotiations at Michigan State.

‘It’s never been about money to Tom,’ said Fletcher, who is now a motivational speaker and author.

‘The truth is, when other opportunities came his way, he wanted to do everything he could for (the public) to not know.’

It is exceedingly rare for head coaches to go without an agent – especially well-established ones like Izzo, who command the highest salaries and have the most complicated deals. Some coaches find agents to be useful intermediaries that can help advance their careers. The most powerful among them can manipulate the broader market by positioning their clients as candidates for vacant jobs, then parlaying that outside interest into an improved contract or additional perks.

Izzo said he wasn’t interested in any of that. He’s spent almost the entirety of his working life in East Lansing. It’s where he married his wife, Lupe, and raised two children; His son Steven, whom the Izzos adopted as a baby, is a walk-on guard on this year’s basketball team.

‘Everybody says what I didn’t get if I would’ve maybe used it to negotiate,’ Izzo said. ‘But do you ever think of what I did get?’

Tom Izzo ‘cares about the people’

Only one active head coach in Division I men’s basketball has spent more time leading his current school than Izzo has at Michigan State: Greg Kampe, who has been the head coach at Oakland University since 1984.

In fact, with the exception of a forgettable seven-week stint at Tulsa in 1986, Izzo has spent nearly two-thirds of his life coaching basketball in East Lansing – first as an assistant coach under his mentor, Jud Heathcote, then the last 29 as head coach.

‘He cares about the people at Michigan State,’ Fletcher said. ‘The things that Tom does that don’t directly contribute to basketball, and don’t contribute directly to his players, but contribute to the university as a whole, is astounding.’

In that time, Izzo has worked with six university presidents, six athletics directors and eight football coaches, including interims. A seventh president, Kevin Guskiewicz, took over last week.

He’s also helped the university navigate tragedy and controversy.

From 2017 to 2019, multiple top officials at Michigan State – including two consecutive presidents – were forced out in the wake of the scandal involving Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor and MSU employee who was convicted of sexual assault. Hollis resigned days after Nassar’s conviction. The school reached a $500 million settlement with Nassar’s victims in 2018.

Then, last fall, Michigan State dealt with another scandal, firing football coach Mel Tucker amid allegations of sexual harassment levied by a prominent anti-sexual violence advocate. Tucker and the school are being sued for $75 million in damages.

“Michigan State’s really had some really hard times the last decade,” said Kampe, a longtime friend of Izzo’s. “And who’s the one person that you can always look at and say this is who really Michigan State is? It’s Tom Izzo.”

‘The grass isn’t always greener’

Hollis said Izzo was always comfortable with a contract if he understood how it fit into the athletics department’s broader plans – specifically with regards to football, where he said the coach recognized “if football’s doing well, everybody’s doing well.”

Current Michigan State athletics director Alan Haller echoed that sentiment in a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports by a school spokesperson.

“At multiple points throughout his career, Coach Izzo has either taken less than the market would dictate or not pursued a new contract to allow the athletics department to make commitments in other areas, allowing us to elevate the entire department,” Haller said.

Haller said Izzo’s most recent contract, which he signed in 2022, was in part an attempt to compensate him for past efforts he’s made to help the athletics department.

The deal increased his base salary and supplemental pay to $5.52 million − a $2 million increase from his previous contract signed in 2018 − and has no expiration date, with one year automatically added when each season ends. While it does not include a mandatory percentage raise or longevity bonus as his previous deal did, it does contain a variety of perks, including 25 hours of personal airtime on a private jet each year and the cushy post-coaching job.

Izzo claimed he doesn’t know some of the details of his own contract, but he said he considers it fair. He refers to something Heathcote used to say, that “a good deal is a good deal for you and a good deal for me.”

His contractual relationship with Michigan State, he said, has been a good deal.

“I got to do it, maybe, the right way,” Izzo said. “Did it cost me money? I don’t know. I know I had job offers for a lot more money, but I also know that the grass isn’t always greener. I’ve got a pretty good thing here.”

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad and Steve Berkowitz at sberkowi@usatoday.com or @ByBerkowitz