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MLS pundit Matt Doyle has heaped praise on Lionel Messi after Inter Miami's 4-1 win over the New England Revolution at the weekend. He was in awe of the Argentine's first goal this week and called his touch in the lead-up 'absurd'.
On MLS's Extratime podcast, the pundit said that he was awestruck by Messi despite seeing him play for 20 years. He said:
"That first goal he scored, the first touch he makes, we've all been watching Messi for 20 years, nothing should surprise us anymore, but that was absurd, absolutely absurd that touch he had."
Doyle added that Messi is a huge fan of his Inter Miami teammate, Benjamin Cremaschi and that the teenager has impressed the former Barcelona star. He said:
"I didn't necessarily see it with Cremaschi last year, he's a nice player but it felt like I was missing something.
"Then he comes right into the team after finally getting fit, and you can see he's making all the little connective-tissue plays around the box that make you go 'oh yeah, this is what Tata is seeing, this is what Messi's seeing,' Messi apparently loves the kid."
Lionel Messi scored twice and assisted as many times in the win over New England last week. The three points saw the Herons move to the top of the Eastern Conference after 11 games.
New England Revolution defender Xavier Arreaga explains what it's like facing Inter Miami's Lionel Messi
New England Revolution defender Xavier Arreaga has revealed what it's like to face Lionel Messi on the pitch. He said that the Argentine is incredible in finding space:
"That kind of player, that's why he's the best, because he can find the space that I think no other player can find. Obviously they also have a good player like Busquets, they know the perfect pass between them.
"It was hard because I think the first 35 minutes, we did a great job trying to block most of the passes for Messi, but at the end of the day, we couldn't do that and he scored."
Lionel Messi has scored 22 goals in 24 matches for Inter Miami since arriving last summer. He managed 32 goals in his 75 matches for PSG in the previous two seasons.
