Disbelief dawned upon more than 20,000 fans at Chase Stadium on Saturday night when the referee blew the final whistle and ended Inter Miami's 2024 MLS season. The favorites to win MLS Cup crashed out of the playoffs in the first round,

After Messi and Miami recorded the best regular season in league history, they crashed out of the postseason in the quarterfinals to No. 9 seed Atlanta.

Inter Miami practiced on Friday thinking there was no way Sergio Busquets was going to play in its win-or-else playoff match against Atlanta United. Busquets — who coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said was ruled out for Saturday's game — received medical clearance on Friday afternoon to play and is being listed as questionable.