Biggest MLS upset ever? Lionel Messi and Inter Miami's early play-off exit was entirely predictable

By the end of Saturday's defeat to Atlanta United, it was Luis Suarez that summed up the feeling around Inter Miami. There he was, all 37-years-old of great Uruguayan striker, gasping with every stride, stretching every last sinew for every pass while spurning the kind of chances he would normally bury. At full-time, Suarez was hunched over. He looked old, exhausted, and out of his depth.

MLS, a league that had become his playground for much of the season, was suddenly too much – too quick, too athletic.

And he wasn't the only one in pink to be left reeling as Miami crashed out in the first round of the play-offs in what has already been dubbed the biggest upset in MLS history. But how did it happen? Well, Atlanta is the definition of a 'team', one that has been assembled for success. Miami, on the other hand, largely rely on four aging superstars, supplemented by a handful of highly-rated young players. They are not a cohesive team.

Yes, Miami rolled through the regular season, winning the Supporters' Shield while setting a new MLS single-season points record (74) in the process. But when it came to the crunch, in the games in which the hard yards have to be put in, and the tanks have to be emptied, Miami looked old, disconnected and poorly constructed.

Having Lionel Messi's mates roll up to South Beach makes for some delightful moments – and there is no doubt the Miami project has had a positive impact in every measurable manner for MLS. But in the real version of this league – the frantic, chaotic, messy thing that has always been – an imperfect roster has finally been exposed.