Messi Has Stiff Competition In MLS Eastern Conference, But No Rival

On paper, the fight shaping up atop the MLS Eastern Conference should be exactly what the league front office has hoped for.

After Matchday 11, the Eastern Conference has four teams that have averaged 2.0 points or more per match so far this season. It’s the first time there have ever been so many clubs in one conference maintaining that pace this far along in the MLS regular season. And generally speaking, the clubs are the usual suspects.

There’s the 2023 MLS Cup and 2024 Leagues Cup Champions Columbus Crew, managed by reigning MLS manager of the year Wilfried Nancy. There’s 2023 Supporters’ Shield winners FC Cincinnati. There’s the 2022 Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup runners-up Philadelphia Union.

And then, of course, there is Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, winners of the 2023 Leagues Cup and 2024 Supporters’ Shield.

Why then, do the consequences of Miami’s league games of late feel so muted?

There’s the fact that Messi and Miami already won the “regular season title” last year before collapsing in the MLS Cup Playoffs. That certainly makes the Shield less of a primary focus this year for the Herons, although they’re still clearly in contention. (Miami sits fourth in the East because they have a match in hand on the top three.)

There’s also some hangover from Miami’s stunning and decisive exit from the Concacaf Champions Cup in the semifinals to a thoroughly impressive Vancouver Whitecaps side. Messi finally put some of that frustration to bed by scoring the final goal in a 4-1 league win over the New York Red Bulls over the weekend. Still, his gait suggested a frustrated figure as he left the field on Saturday night.

But what’s also clearly missing from the Messi MLS era is what made the majority of his time at FC Bacelona so mesmerizing: The presence of a worthy adversary in Cristiano Ronaldo at Barca’s top rival for trophies, Real Madrid.

Messi And MLS Following The NBA Model

Messi’s influence to bring former Barcelona teammates Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba to Miami may be the most lasting development of his time in MLS, introducing a star-clustering dynamic also more regularly seen in the NBA. But for MLS, the next step of replicating that NBA model is to foster a climate where there’s actually several teams with big stars to breed rivalries between personalities.

At the moment, MLS is facing a far more difficult task than the NBA in that aim because those stars typically arrive late in their careers, and it takes time to forge a feud. Yet we did see one example for two seasons in Southern California, when Zlatan Ibrahimovic played for the LA Galaxy while Carlos Vela played for LAFC. Of course, it helped that Ibrahimovic had no problems making his feelings on Vela widely known.

Of course, it’s harder to find a reasonable rival for Messi because his accomplishments are so otherworldly that he is regularly considered the greatest living player without so much as a debate.

But a rival needn’t be capable of posing a real threat to an in-his-prime Messi, only the somewhat more athletically challenged version that will turn 38 in June.

Eastern Conference Musical Chairs

There were some decent candidates in last year’s Eastern Conference, but they’ve all moved on.

Fellow Argentine Luciano Acosta won the 2023 MLS MVP for FC Cincinnati the year that Messi arrived in Miami, but moved on to FC Dallas in a preseason transfer before the 2025 season began.

Cucho Hernandez may have also proven a worthy foil at Columbus, but no one could blame he or the Crew for enabling a big-money move to Real Betis in La Liga.

And virtually all the personalities from the height of Philadelphia’s previous title challenges have moved on, including fiery defensive midfielder Jose Andres Martinez and creative playmaker Daniel Gazdag.

Perhaps Evander, Cincinnati’s replacement for Acosta who previously played for the Portland Timbers, could evolve into a rival. His Brazilian nationality certainly helps, as does his more outspoken personality that could clash with Messi’s introversion.

Or maybe there’s another import – Kevin DeBruyne, for example – who lands at another Eastern Conference foe this summer.

But at this point, it’s unclear how much time is left to foster any sort of rivalry while Messi remains in MLS. Miami and Messi are thought to be nearing a contract extension, but Messi will turn 38 in June, so we could be talking an additional year or two at most.