Atlanta United, the team that knocked Lionel Messi and Co. out of the MLS Cup in a first-round shock almost a year ago, are now struggling towards the foot of the table, and they travel to Inter's Fort Lauderdale base before The Herons end the campaign away at Nashville.
Big call from Beckham
The 2025 season has been an interesting one, not least because Tata Martino was replaced by Messi's former Argentina colleague, Javier Mascherano.
With no previous managerial experience other than with Argentina's youth sides, it was quite the gamble from David Beckham, Jorge Mas and the wider Inter Miami board.
That gamble seemed to have immediately paid off with their first defeat not coming until the ninth match of the season, a 4-3 loss at home to FC Dallas, though two more defeats in the next four games meant a swift raincheck on just how successful the squad could be.
Since the last of those three defeats, a 3-0 reverse to Orlando City on May 18th, Inter have gone on to lose just four more league matches out of the 18 they've played, scoring at least three times in 10 of those games.
Indeed, with 72 goals scored already this MLS season, they're top of the pile for goals scored, and that's a position which they also retain for assists.
Messi remains Inter's talisman
It won't surprise anyone to understand that 38-year-old talisman Messi is the chief reason for Inter's success.
The captain, who always seems to lead by example, is joint top of the scoring charts on 24 goals with LAFC's Denis Bouanga.
His 140 total shots are the most in that particular metric, with the LAFC man leading the shots on target count with 69; Messi is slightly behind on 62.
If we break things down further to left-footed shots only, it's the Argentinian World Cup winner that's way out in front with 121, which is 29 more than his nearest pursuer, LA Galaxy's Gabriel Pec.
How will Inter cope with the retirement of Busquets?
Much of the time, of course, Messi is being fed by his former Barcelona colleague, Sergio Busquets, whose 2,040 passes are the fourth most of any player in the league in 2025.
With a 90% pass completion stat too, that's a sensational showing from the 37-year-old Spaniard.
Given that 'Busi' has recently announced his playing retirement at the end of the current season, and as he remains the conduit via which most of Inter's moves are constructed, one can only guess at what kind of effect this could have on the way in which they'll play from next season onwards.
Despite previously signing a contract extension until the end of the 2027 MLS season, another ex-Barca man, Jordi Alba, has chosen to follow Busquets' lead and rescinded that deal before also announcing his retirement.
Alba following suit
"The moment has come to close a truly meaningful chapter in my life. I've decided to bring my professional football career to an end at the conclusion of this season," he wrote on social media.
"I do so with complete conviction, peace and happiness. Because I feel I've walked this path with every ounce of passion I had, and now it's the right time to open a new chapter and close the previous one with the best possible feeling."
During his time at the club, the attacking wing-back scored 10 goals and provided 27 assists in 66 MLS appearances for Inter.
Though there's no official word on Messi's own plans, the thought of him hanging up his boots after next year's World Cup appears to be a generally accepted scenario, given that he will be 39 by then and with nothing left to prove in the game.
He does have less than 100 days left on his current Inter contract, so the end may come sooner rather than later.
Before and after Messi...
As and when that fateful day comes, MLS and its many supporters can look back on times that were before and after Messi.
Though many big names came before: Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and others, no player has made quite the impact on the league as a whole as the diminutive No.10 who is the gift that just keeps on giving.
For now, he and his teammates still have the small matter of MLS Cup playoffs to come too, with the chance to end the year in the best possible way.
There could be no better bookend to the careers of Messi, Busquets and Alba than for them to be instrumental in winning one last trophy for their cabinets, and no one would bet against such a romantic finish for some of the best that have ever played the game.
