Lionel Messi had plenty of chances to score, but he just couldn't find the back of the net. As it turned out, he just needed to make the right pass at the right time.

Jordi Alba made a great pass from Messi to score the winning goal in the 60th minute. Luis Suarez also scored, and Inter Miami beat Atlanta United 2-1 on Friday night in the opening game of a best-of-three first round Major League Soccer playoff series.

It wasn't the easiest start for the Supporters Shield winners, the No. 1 overall seed in the MLS Cup playoffs. They set a league record with 74 points in the regular season, 34 points ahead of wild-card Atlanta in the standings.

Saba Lobjanidze scored for Atlanta, which got eight saves from goalkeeper Brad Guzan. Game 2 will be on November 2 at Atlanta—the last road game of the season, no matter what, for Inter Miami. If we need to, Game 3 will be on November 9 in Fort Lauderdale.

“It's going to be difficult for us,” Inter Miami coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said. “It's going to be difficult as this rival has been throughout the season.”

Miami's first-ever home playoff game saw Messi make his MLS playoff debut in a sold-out match — as is often the case with Messi games worldwide — with MLS even streaming a camera isolated on him throughout the match on TikTok.

Atlanta was the only team that beat Inter Miami when Messi was in the lineup this season. It was like the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner — and finalist for MLS MVP honors — knew it wouldn't be easy.

Suarez scored just over a minute into the game, and Messi had three great chances later in the half.

Messi almost made it 2-0 after six minutes with a shot to the left foot. Guzan had to stretch out to deflect it away. Messi found a bit of space and took another shot in the 26th minute. This time, Guzan managed to punch it over the crossbar. And in the 29th minute, it wasn't Guzan that stopped Messi — it was the post. The rebound came to Inter Miami's Marcelo Weigandt, who took a shot that was saved by Guzan.

If it hadn't been for Guzan, it could have been 2-0, 3-0, or even 4-0 by then.

Instead, we went into halftime with the score at 1-1. Lobjanidze got past the defense and beat Drake Callender from close range in the 39th minute, and Atlanta—which won at Chase Stadium in May—was tied going into the second half.

“We were frustrated,” Martino said.

In the 52nd minute, Messi's direct kick from 25 yards nearly gave Inter Miami the lead again but curled just wide of the post to Guzan's left. The breakthrough came about eight minutes later, with Messi getting lifted into the air by Alba in celebration after the goal.

“We’ve got to keep our heads up and we’ve got to go again,” Guzan said. “We’ve had our backs against the wall for quite some time now. And when our backs have been against the wall, we’ve found a way. Our backs are against the wall now. We’ve got to go into Game 2 and we’ve got to win.”

The night took a bad turn for Inter Miami late. Ian Fray, a South Florida native who has already dealt with three ACL tears, left in the 90th minute after a non-contact injury left him unable to put any weight on his right leg. There was no immediate word on the severity of Fray's injury.

“It was a very good game ... but we're not feeling as satisfied as we could because of Ian,” Martino said. "We are all a little bit sad. We'll wait to see what injury he has.”