Joao Neves breaks deadlock as PSG give Messi and Inter Miami a mountain to climb
PSG needed just over five minutes to open the scoring against Inter Miami and former player Lionel Messi.
Lionel Messi’s first game against Paris Saint-Germain since leaving the Ligue 1 club in 2023 took a turn for the worse in just the sixth minute of the Champions League winners’ Club World Cup clash with Inter Miami.
Messi’s reunion with PSG at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta promised to be one of the more interesting ties of the last 16 of the newly expanded tournament.
But Miami were given a mountain to climb early on as PSG capitalised on poor marking from the MLS side.
Joao Neves, one of the stars of PSG’s demolition of Inter Milan in the Champions League final, broke the deadlock with his first goal since a Ligue 1 clash with Saint-Etienne in March.
He found the net with a diving header at the far post, converting from Portuguese compatriot Vitinha’s excellent free-kick delivery.
It looked as if things had gotten worse for Miami when Fabian Ruiz nodded in from point-blank range, but his effort was rightly ruled out for offside.
Still, Neves’ opener gave Messi and Co. a mountain to climb, with PSG in the driver’s seat to clinch a quarter-final tie with either Flamengo or Bayern Munich.