Lionel Messi scored two goals and assisted on another by Jordi Alba to lead Inter Miami to a 4-0 victory over Atlanta United on Saturday night in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Messi, who sat out his home nation Argentina’s friendly against Venezuela that was held in Miami one night earlier, started and helped Inter Miami (18-7-8, 62 points) guarantee itself at least the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with the victory.

Inter Miami still has a chance to secure the No. 2 seed if it can finish with more points than FC Cincinnati, which also has 62 points. If the teams finish with the same number of points, Cincinnati would clinch the higher seed by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Atlanta United (5-16-12, 27 points), which eliminated Inter Miami from the MLS playoffs in the first round

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