mocner@miamiherald.com
Their season and pride were on the line. Star forward Luis Suarez was suspended and watching from a suite. And Nashville SC was across the field for the fourth game in a row.
Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates had plenty of reasons to be fired up Saturday night for the decisive Game 3 of the first-round playoff series at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
Miami, with the most expensive roster in MLS history, failed to meet expectations last season, losing to Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs. Coach Javier Mascherano and his players stressed for weeks how determined they were to avoid another embarrassing exit.
A familiar foe stood in the way on Saturday.
Over the past three weeks Inter Miami beat Nashville 5-2 on the road in the regular season finale, won at home 3-1 in Game 1 of the playoffs and lost Game 2 in Nashville last weekend, which forced Game 3.
Maschereno went with the same starters he used in Game 2 with the exception of Suarez, who served a red card suspension.
The ban was imposed by the MLS Disciplinary Committee on Wednesday following a review requested by Nashville SC. The committee ruled that Suarez kicked Nashville defender Andy Najar in the 71st minute of Game 2. Suarez appealed the decision, but it was upheld.
Mateo Silvetti, the 19-year-old Argentine forward who joined the team in late-August, started in place of Suarez.
The rest of the Starting XI included: Rocco Rios Novo, Ian Fray, Maxi Falcon, Noah Allen, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Rodrigo De Paul, Tadeo Allende, Baltasar Rodriguez and Messi, the team captain and league Golden Boot winner.
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) and midfielder Rodrigo de Paul (7) arrive to Chase Stadium before playing against Nashville SC in match three of their MLS Playoffs series at Chase Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
Miami’s bench players were Oscar Ustari, Marcelo Weigandt, Toto Aviles, Gonzalo Lujan, Yannick Bright, Telasco Segovia, Santi Morales, Fafa Picault and Allen Obando.
Nashville’s starters were Joe Willis, Jack Maher, Josh Bauer, captain Walker Zimmerman, Najar, Patrick Yazbek, Sam Surridge, Matthew Corcoran, Alex Muyl, Edvard Tagseth and Hany Mukhtar.
The winner of Saturday’s game plays FC Cincinnati on the road in the Eastern Conference semifinal match the weekend of Nov. 22-23. Cincinnati beat the Columbus Crew 2-1 in Game 3 of their first-round series Saturday.
This story was originally published November 8, 2025 at 8:08 PM.
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Michelle Kaufman
Miami Herald
Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman has covered 14 Olympics, six World Cups, Wimbledon, U.S. Open, NCAA Basketball Tournaments, NBA Playoffs, Super Bowls and has been the soccer writer and University of Miami basketball beat writer for 25 years. She was born in Frederick, Md., and grew up in Miami.
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