CLEVELAND, Ohio – The undying spectacle of Lionel Messi’s international fame continued Saturday afternoon as over 60,000 fans crowded Huntington Bank Field to watch the Columbus Crew battle Inter Miami, captained by the 2024 MLS MVP and arguably the greatest soccer player of all time. The match was as tight as expected for a matchup between the last two undefeated clubs in MLS this season. It was also a matchup of the 2023 MLS champions (Crew) and the 2024 Supporter’s Shield winners (Miami) as the team with the best regular season record. Miami got a first-half goal from Benjamin Cremaschi in the 30th minute, then held on in the final minutes to knock off Columbus, 1-0. Messi fans were plenty, as the stands were speckled not only with the pink and black of Inter Miami, but also with the iconic blue and white stripes of his legendary Argentina jersey. While Messi supporters were numerous, they were still vastly outnumbered by the Columbus “home” fans, who started chanting and cheering well in advance of the match’s start. Overall, the attendance (60,614) set a record for a non-NFL event held at the stadium. The highly anticipated game also marked a homecoming for midfielders Darlington Nagbe and Sean Zawadski. Nagbe grew up in Lakewood and graduated from St. Edward High School, while Zawadski graduated from Olmsted Falls High School. Both players described playing in the Browns’ stadium as a special experience. “Driving back into the city, seeing things you’re used to growing up … to be back in Cleveland and in familiar sights, it’s great,” Zawadski said. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to play a game here. “It’s a surreal moment for me. Being a little kid in the stands with my parents, my grandparents … fast-forward 15-plus years and I’m on the field playing … in my hometown." Nagbe, who played college soccer at Akron, said, “It means a lot, obviously [I] grew up a Browns fan, you know, watching the Browns, so to be here in this stadium, not just as a fan this time or watching on TV, but [I] get a chance to actually step on the field and play the competitive game.” Nagbe also highlighted this game as an opportunity to grow a larger Crew fanbase in Cleveland. “Obviously [we] have, you know, the Guardians, the Cavs and the Browns, but hopefully we can gain some new fans ... and hopefully have a good performance as well,” Nagbe said prior to the game. The house was rocking at kickoff, as the roar of a flyover ignited the crowd during the player introductions while yellow and black smoke drifted into the cloudy Cleveland sky. The stage was set. “I thought the traveling Crew fans from Columbus were phenomenal. Obviously, it’s a lot for them to come up here … just goes to show how dedicated they are and how much they support us,” Zawadski said. The match got off to a scrappy start, the crowd getting involved as jerseys were tugged and players fell, resulting in three Crew fouls within the first 13 minutes of play. It was evident from the get-go that neither of these teams had any intention of relinquishing their undefeated record. “I think in the first half, we were a little tentative, didn’t really know what to expect in terms of physicality,” Zawadski said. The third of these three fouls led to a corner kick for Messi, and the Crew-heavy crowd let the referees know how they felt about the call. However, Columbus stepped up on defense and Miami’s corner kick was fruitless. Immediately after, the Crew had an opportunity of their own, but an arcing pass from Dylan Chambost was well-defended by Miami, left untouched by Columbus and therefore unscored. Staunch defensive play benefited the Crew again in the 23rd minute, as it appeared Messi would have a clean look for the first goal of the day when Malte Amundson stepped in front and blocked it with his upper body. Columbus’ main offensive problem in the first half was, simply put, kicking too hard. The Crew had three good looks that all sailed way high. Daniel Gazdag missed first, and shortly after, the Crew again missed a close one. Passes pinballed beautifully between players setting up Max Arfsten for an open look directly in front of the net, but he soared it high. Last was Jacen Russell-Rowe at the end of the half, but he also put too much power into it. In the 30th minute, Miami broke the tie as a perfect, arcing pass from Marcelo Weigandt set up Cremaschi for a straight-on header directly into the net. While the crowd was Crew-dominated, a decent portion of the stadium still celebrated for Miami, emblematic of the fanbase’s steadfast representation. Despite the first goal not involving Messi, most of Columbus’ effort was focused on him. The captain was swarmed whenever he touched the ball, and the Crew were determined to make any potential shots on goal as difficult as possible. Still, Messi nearly doubled Miami’s lead right at the end of the half with a deep shot, but it just barely missed left. It was so close that many Miami fans in the crowd started celebrating, thinking Messi had scored. It was clear from a pregame press conference on Friday that the Crew were focused on containing Messi, and for good reason. The last time these two clubs squared off in May 2024, Messi scored twice en route to a 3-2 victory for Miami. Nagbe described Messi as “one of the best, if not the best ever,” and Zawadski highlighted the communication strategy needed to limit him. “You always have to have an eye on him and be aware of where he’s at. You know what he’s capable of as a player,” Zawadski said. “It’s just communicating through everything you can, sorting things out, organizing even when you have the ball … preventing him from doing what he can.” The second half started off with a spectacular save by Miami’s Oscar Ustari, who made a leaping grab to stop Diego Rossi’s attempt to tie the game. Columbus had another perfect game-tying opportunity in the 60th minute after an unfortunate touch by Miami’s Jordi Alba left Rossi with a wide-open look from the middle of the penalty box, but again the shot was much too high. “Overall, this is a really good performance, but we missed chances,” Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy said. “I have to watch this game to see if this is a technique or timing or decision-making, but at the end of the day, we had many chances.” Despite maintaining possession for the majority of the match (58.3%), netting more shots on goal (3-2) and shots attempted (16-7), and committing less fouls (10-15), the Crew could not overcome the singular goal they allowed in the 30th minute. The Crew got multiple good looks as the match neared its end, but none found the net. The best chance was in stoppage time, on a sliding effort in front of goal by recently acquired Daniel Gazdag, who was making his first start with his new team. But Gazdag couldn’t get his foot on Andres Herrera’s low cross. Still, Nancy thought his team played a good match. “The good takeaways that I liked is we improved the intensity. That’s why we were all the time attacking, attacking, attacking,” Nancy said. “I’m going to have a few discussions just with a few players to see what they need to improve, but, again, it was a good game for us, but we didn’t finish.” Columbus’ loss ends their undefeated streak and puts their overall record at 5-1-3. They move on to play the San Jose Earthquakes next Saturday. Inter Miami (5-0-3) is now the only undefeated team left in MLS this season.