Nashville SC eliminated from CONCACAF Champions Cup in loss ...

Coming into Wednesday, Nashville SC could claim relative success against Lionel Messi's Inter Miami. Through three games against the Herons since they signed arguably the greatest player of all time, Nashville had yet to lose in 90 minutes.

That streak is now over — and so is Nashville's maiden voyage in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Inter Miami knocked Nashville out of its first intercontinental competition with a dominating, 3-1 victory at Chase Stadium in the second leg of the teams' round of 16 series.

Messi's onetime Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez opened the scoring, and Messi himself scored his third goal in four games against Nashville. Suarez's inch-perfect pass to Robert Taylor in the 63rd minute made the final half-hour more or less a formality, notwithstanding a stoppage-time goal by Sam Surridge.

Suarez and Messi each scored in Thursday's first leg in Nashville, a 2-2 draw. Inter Miami rallied from two goals behind and carried all of that momentum into the second leg.

Once again, Nashville's quest for its first-ever trophy came to an end at the hands of Inter Miami. In last season's U.S. Open Cup round of 16, the Herons defeated Nashville 2-1. Three months later, Messi won his first trophy as an American-based player with a victory in the Leagues Cup final at Geodis Park.

Nashville falls into early two-goal hole

Nashville isn't used to playing from multiple goals down. Messi's 23rd-minute goal marked the first time it faced a two-goal deficit since August 26, 2023, in a 4-0 loss to Atlanta United.

You have to go back even further to find the last time Nashville gave up two or more goals in the first half — to a 4-3 loss to Toluca the Leagues Cup group stage a month earlier.

As for trailing by multiple goals in the first half, Nashville hadn't done that since a 2-1 loss at New York City FC last April. That was 37 competitive matches ago.

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Sam Surridge makes impact after halftime substitution

After Messi made it 2-0, Inter Miami played more conservatively, appearing happy to let Nashville control the ball in wide areas while refusing to surrender the middle of the field.

For the most part, Gerardo Martino's tactics were successful against a Nashville side without a true target forward in its starting 11. Nashville had little else to offer besides crosses, but Miami won most aerial duels.

That changed slightly when Surridge entered the game after halftime, playing in just his second game since he hurt his shoulder in the CCC opener at Moca FC on Feb. 22. The 6-foot-3 Surridge gave Nashville a much more viable option to aim for in the penalty box.

Surridge took three shots in his one half of play and tapped home a cross from Shaq Moore in the 93rd minute for his second goal of the season.

Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.