Nashville SC head into Saturday's win-or-go-home playoff match against Inter Miami as heavy underdogs. They also go in 90 minutes away from sending Lionel Messi and company packing from the opening round of the playoffs for the second year in a row. After a morale boosting win at home last weekend, they're not backing down.
"I think any time this game or this series has been talked about, it's been Messi, basically," said veteran goalkeeper Joe Willis on Friday. "I think there is a lot of pressure on them to be successful with how much money they've spent to bring players in. And I think the eyes are always on them, and we're kind of an afterthought in this series. We know that, and we take that personally."
Since joining Miami in the summer of 2023, Lionel Messi has dominated the headlines around MLS, becoming the face of the league and the focus of its media coverage. He's also dominated on the pitch, too.
Immediately after his South Florida debut, Messi led Miami to their first trophy, winning the 2023 Leagues Cup final against Nashville SC and quieting a full house at Geodis Park. That's been par for the course ever since; in nine total matches against Nashville, Messi has scored 13 goals and won six. Until last weekend, they had never won a match against him. Can the 2-1 victory spur them to an improbable upset?
"When we play our way, when we play collectively, we can compete with anybody," said head coach BJ Callaghan, who led Nashville to their first-ever trophy earlier this year in his first full season as a head coach. "We continue to stick to what we have done, our process of evaluating the game. Still a couple of areas that we need to clean up and know that we're going back down to Miami, playing a really good team, well-coached team, a team that's going to be equally as motivated as us to play in a win or go home [game]. We're excited about it."
Bad blood brewing
Nashville and Miami have been joined at the hip since both sides entered the league as expansion teams in 2020. Nashville's first playoff win came over Miami, knocking them out of the 2020 play-in match at Nissan Stadium. Miami have got their fair share of revenge, knocking Nashville out of the 2023 US Open Cup, beating them in the 2023 Leagues Cup final, and eliminating them from the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup.
Ben Wright
Saturday will be the 19th all-time meeting between the two sides in six years, the most either side have faced the same opponent. The frequency and intensity of their meeting has led to a much more organic rivalry than the rivalries the league often tries to manufacture.
"I think there has been a lot of tension growing over the past few games, and I think it's turning into more than just a soccer game," said Willis. "In this league we like to talk a lot about rivalries. Miami and [us] both came into the league at the same time. So that's something that we have always remembered and have always thought about. We're similar to being brothers in that way and that we came into the league at the same time, and we're always competing with each other to be the first to do something."
"I think over the last few games, like I said, you've seen a lot of tension building, a little bit of animosity towards each other. And I think it's going to be bigger than just a soccer game tomorrow."
That tension was evident on the pitch last weekend. Nashville midfielder Eddi Tagseth was booked just four minutes into the game for smashing a ball off of Ian Fray after the whistle had blown. Miami striker Luis Suárez was retroactively suspended midweek by the MLS Disciplinary Committee for an off-the-ball kick on Andy Nájar. The two sides genuinely do not like each other.
Nashville fans were vocally pissed off after the no call on Saturday. "F**k you, Suárez" chants were loud for the final 20 minutes. Eventually switched to "F**k you, Messi", but those died off quickly as soon as he scored. 🎥 @hansidisciple (Twitter)
— Ben Wright (@benwright.bsky.social) 2025-11-05T17:20:03.315Z
"We're all competitors and we're all looking to compete to advance into the next round," said Callaghan. "I think it's normal for us, it's doing what we do, right? That's how we want to play, making sure that we do it in a competitive way, in a collective way, but also we want to play with intensity."
On the road again
As the higher seed, Miami have had home field advantage in the series. They hosted the opening game, a 3-1 win, before losing 2-1 in Music City. Nashville SC know that the difficult task of taking down Messi and friends is made even more difficult by playing in Ft. Lauderdale.
Miami have only lost four times at home in 29 matches this season. Nashville have won just seven of 19 matches away from Geodis Park. It's an imposing challenge, but it's a challenge that Willis says Nashville relish.
"There's something really nice about winning games in front of your home fans, but there's also something nice about upsetting 30,000 road fans," he grinned. "It's a little different, but just as nice."
