WASHINGTON: Lionel Messi scored twice as Inter Miami beat the defending Major League Soccer champions the Columbus Crew 3-2 to clinch the Supporters’ Shield awarded for the best regular season record.

Messi had been subdued until the 45th minute when he put Inter ahead — chesting down a long ball into the box and getting a lucky bounce off Crew defender Malte Amundsen before poking home.

Minutes later, Messi made it 2-0, taking advantage of a poorly assembled wall to curl a laser-precision free-kick into the corner past the stationary Columbus keeper Patrick Schulte.

But 20 seconds after the start of the second half, Columbus pulled a goal back when the ball fell to Diego Rossi just inside the box and he cleverly curled his shot into the far corner.

Straight from the restart, Columbus gifted Miami a third when Schulte raced off his line but with defender Rudy Camacho in his way, he dropped the ball to Luis Suarez who headed into the unguarded goal.

The Crew battled back again though and made it 3-2 through a Cucho Hernandez penalty after Noah Allen handled in the box.

But once again, the momentum Columbus had gained was lost when Camacho was sent off for a second yellow card after a studs up challenge on Federico Redondo.

Seven minutes from the end though, the Crew had a glorious chance to grab a point — and deny Miami their celebration — when a penalty was awarded for handball against Ian Fray after a VAR review.

But this time Colombian Hernandez’s penalty was weak and Miami keeper Drake Callender dived to his right and saved.

The champions of MLS is determined by the winner of the MLS Cup playoffs — where Eastern Conference rivals the Crew and Miami could meet again.

Kylian Mbappé came off the bench but couldn’t prevent defending champion Real Madrid from losing 1-0 at unheralded Lille in the revamped Champions League on Wednesday.
With Mbappé a substitute after a minor hamstring injury, the opening goal came from Canada striker Jonathan David ‘s penalty deep into first-half stoppage time. A video review ruled that midfielder Eduardo Camavinga handled the ball.
David scored a hat trick last weekend and shot confidently past goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who was replacing the injured Thibaut Courtois. Mbappé came on in the 57th.
It was Madrid’s first loss in the competition since a 4-0 hammering by Manchester City in the 2023 semifinal return leg.
Brazil teenager Endrick became the youngest Champions League starter for Madrid at 18 years, 73 days old. He surpassed the mark set by former Madrid great Raúl González, who was 18 years, 78 days old when he faced Ajax in 1995.
Liverpool coach Arne Slot got his first taste of a European night at Anfield and saw his team beat Bologna 2-0, thanks to goals from midfielder Alexis Mac Allister and prolific forward Mohamed Salah.
Substitute Jhon Duran scored a late winner to give Aston Villa another 1-0 win against Bayern Munich.
When the sides met in the 1982 European Cup final, Villa won 1-0 in a big upset. Prince William was born that year, and he was cheering in the Villa Park crowd when Duran pounced late on.
Coach Unai Emery sent the 20-year-old Duran on in the 70th and the Colombia forward — who has made a habit of scoring goals from the bench — did it again with a brilliant left-footed effort from around 25 meters to beat Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Juventus had goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio sent off in the 59th for a handball yet still won 3-2 at Leipzig.
Slovenia forward Benjamin Sesko scored both goals for Leipzig but Serbia’s Dusan Vlahovic did the same for 10-man Juve before Francisco Conceição netted in the 82nd.
OTHER MATCHES
Earlier, Atalanta and Feyenoord got their first wins in the competition’s second round of matches.
Italian side Atalanta coasted to a 3-0 win over Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk, Dutch club Feyenoord secured a gritty 3-2 win at tournament newcomer Girona.
Albanian Berat Djimsiti, Nigerian Ademola Lookman, and Italian Raoul Bellanova scored for Atalanta in the German city of Gelsenkirchen. It was officially a home game for Shakhtar, which is playing at German club Schalke’s stadium because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Girona led through center-back David López’s close-range finish, but the visitors equalized with an own goal from Yangel Herrera and took the lead on Antoni Milambo’s 31st-minute strike.
Donny van de Beek made it 2-2 but another own goal, this time from Ladislav Krejci, gave Feynoord — Slot’s former club — victory in a match where both teams missed a penalty.
Kerem Akturkoglu, veteran Ángel Di Maria, Alexander Bah and Orkun Kokcu scored for Benfica in a 4-0 rout of Atletico Madrid; and Monaco netted a last-minute equalizer in a 2-2 draw at Dinamo Zagreb thanks to Denis Zakaria’s penalty.
Also, Sturm Graz lost 1-0 at home to Club Brugge, which won thanks to a curling strike from Christos Tzolis.