If there was any doubt that Lionel Messi deserves the MLS MVP and Golden Boot trophies, he emphatically put it to rest with a spectacular three-goal performance that lifted Inter Miami to a 5-2 win on the road against Nashville SC in their regular-season finale on Saturday night.

The Argentine legend entered the night as the leading candidate to become the first player in MLS history to win back-to-back MVP trophies. He also had the MLS Golden Boot trophy practically in the bag.

He improved his chances for both trophies with a hat trick that rallied Miami from a 2-1 first-half deficit. Messi ignited his teammates, carried them on his back, and Miami scored four unanswered goals in the second half.

Messi is a man of few words, but the smile on his face as he celebrated each of the goals said it all.

Inter Miami enters the MLS playoffs next week as the No. 3 seed and Nashville stayed at No. 6, which means the two teams face each other again in the first-round of the playoffs, a three-game series that would begin next weekend with a home game at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Miami coach Javier Mascherano said Game 1 will be Friday night. MLS is expected to announce the full schedule on Sunday.

Messi’s first goal of the night was a perfectly placed left-footed goal that skimmed the inside of the net in the 34th minute. His second was a penalty kick at the 63-minute mark, his first goal from the penalty spot all season, after Andy Najar was called for a hand ball in the box. But, he wasn’t done. Messi completed the hat trick in the 81st minute, a left-footed scorcher from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner that gave Miami a 4-2 lead.

Then, in added time, Messi had another chance to score but instead chose to send a sideways pass in the box to Telasco Segovia, who scored to put the exclamation mark on the game.

Messi’s first goal Saturday was Miami’s only shot on goal in the first half, and Nashville led 2-1 at the break after goals by Sam Surridge and Jacob Shaffelburg.

Nashville dominated from the start, taking 12 first-half shots to four, including six on goal. Miami’s defense looked vulnerable, and the score would have been more lopsided if not for three big saves from Rocco Rios Novo, starting at goalkeeper for Inter Miami for the third game in the row, replacing Oscar Ustari.

But everything changed in the second half. Miami attacked more aggressively, took control of the game, and never looked back.

“If we can help Leo to win the Golden Boot, it would be fantastic,” Mascherano said in the lead-up to the game. “We will try to do everything as much as possible to help him to try to win that.”

If that weren’t enough to light a fire under Messi, it was the last regular-season game he would play alongside his FC Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, both of whom announced in recent weeks that they are retiring at the end of the season.

Messi, Busquets and Alba are close friends, along with Luis Suarez, who also played with them at Barcelona, and they would love nothing more than to lift the MLS Cup together.

The quartet was in the starting lineup on Saturday, along with Rios Novo, right back Marcelo Weigandt, center back Maxi Falcon, center back Gonzalo Lujan, midfielder Rodrigo De Paul, midfielder Tadeo Allende and midfielder Baltasar Rodriguez.

Rios Novo, 23, started the third game in a row since replacing 39-year-old Oscar Ustari, who started most of the season. Rios Novo has played nine games this season and Miami did not lose any of them.

Rios Novo earned Mascherano’s trust with his recent performances. He conceded one goal in a 4-1 win over the New England Revolution and had a clean sheet in a 4-0 victory over Atlanta United.

And, he was tested early against Nashville, forced to make three big saves in the first 20 minutes, including a Surridge shot that Rios Novo dove to save with his outstretched fingertips.

Mascherano was asked after the Atlanta game about the goalkeeper situation. He said: “Rocco had a very good game. He was called up and responded very well. It is very important for us to elevate healthy internal competition at all positions. Then, I have the responsibility to decide what I feel is best for each game. It is a good problem to have.”

In May, Inter Miami signed Ustari to a contract extension through the 2026 season with guaranteed compensation of $744,000 this year.

Rios Novo joined the team in January for a base salary of $104,000 and guaranteed compensation of $122,866.

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