Lionel Messi, the absolute king of MLS: hat trick to win the Golden Boot, leader in assists, and everyone's favorite to be the league's MVP.

Lionel Andrés Messi will be missed in retirement because he has the ability to make the extraordinary ordinary. This Saturday, in his third game in a week at the age of 38, he scored a hat trick and provided an assist in Inter Miami 's 5-2 victory over Nashville SC in the final matchday of the MLS regular season.

With the celebrations, La Pulga secured the so-called Golden Boot with 29 goals and also finished as the top assist provider, with 19, later equaled by Dane Anders Dreyer of San Diego FC, who thrashed Portland Timbers 4-0 and scored one himself.

Javier Mascherano 's team finished third in their conference and will now face Nashville in the first round of the playoffs. Starting next weekend, the best-of-three matchups will be played, with home-field advantage for Florida.

It's no longer surprising when the Rosario native scores a goal that few footballers in the world can achieve, for the simple reason that he's already done it several times. The captain of the Scaloneta is so wonderful that he can even make a match in the weak MLS, a tournament in which there's no shortage of top-flight talent, attractive. What's more: Messi is capable of transforming Inter Miami into a competitive team , despite the unusual defensive errors of Mascherano's team.

Messi's first goal was worthy of Superchampionship , the Japanese animated series that chronicled the exploits of Oliver Atom. The Flea performed a work of art after receiving a powerful, lofted pass from Jordi Alba: he chested it down, curled it into the air with his left foot, drew a dribble with his left foot, and nailed it down from outside the box. The goal was aesthetically perfect, prompting a few smiles from the Nashville fans.

Before and after Leo's goal, the home side was clearly superior. They only missed out on a lead thanks to good saves from Argentine Rocco Ríos Novo , replacing Oscar Ustari, who was on the bench. Inter Miami's win was unfair, which is why Sam Surridge 's header equalized, having spoken to Clarín hours earlier, so well-chosen. (he beat Rodrigo De Paul in the jump).

Towards the end of the first half, everything happened. First, Messi almost scored the second, but his right-footed shot hit the post. Then, Tadeo Allende lost an easy ball, and Jacob Shaffelburg tapped it into the empty net after a rebound off the post.

In the second half, Messi broke the deadlock. He equalized from the penalty spot and then contributed to Baltasar Rodríguez's goal . He scored the 4-2 with another stunning left-footed strike (from the stands, "Messi/Messi/Messi" fell) and set up the fifth for Venezuelan Telasco Segovia.

For Messi, it was his 60th career hat-trick : 48 with Barcelona, ​​10 with Argentina, and two with Inter Miami. He is now six behind Cristiano Ronaldo , who has 66 (44 with Real Madrid, three with Juventus, 10 with Portugal, three with Manchester United, and six with Al-Nassr).

How is the race between Leo and Cristiano Ronaldo to reach the thousandth goal? The Portuguese player has 949 in 1,292 games, while Leo has 889 in 1,130 matches . In terms of assists, meanwhile, the Rosario native has a significant gap: 399 (yes, he's one shy of 400) versus 259.

Messi played and shone. Yes, once again he made the extraordinary ordinary. That's why we have to enjoy him until he decides to say goodbye...