Lionel Messi rescues Inter Miami in LA with a Barcelona classic

The stargazers gathered hours before kickoff on opening night of the 2024 Lionel Messi roadshow. Thousands congregated outside Dignity Health Sports Park, queuing to get inside the LA Galaxy's longtime home, perhaps earlier than ever before. They'd come, of course, to see a performance; to get a glimpse of the GOAT. And after 91 minutes of waiting, like clockwork, they saw the brilliance they'd paid for.

Messi had been stifled, smothered, neutralized for most of Sunday night. But in second-half stoppage time, with his Inter Miami team trailing 1-0, he dipped into his bottomless bag of tricks for an age-old classic.

He tapped in Jordi Alba, and together they made Catalan magic, slicing through the Galaxy defense at will.

It was a routine they'd surely rehearsed hundreds of times at FC Barcelona — Messi to Alba, Alba back to Messi, back to Alba, back to Messi, and past a helpless goalkeeper, into the back of the net.

It earned Miami a 1-1 draw that the Herons really didn't deserve. They'd been battered by the Galaxy. But they escaped with a point.

This story will be updated.