Nashville SC’s punishment for suffering its most lopsided loss of the season is a playoff match-up with the team that delivered the beating.

The sixth-seeded Boys in Gold will open MLS postseason play Friday at 7 p.m. CT at third-seeded Inter Miami CF, which spanked NSC 5-2 at Geodis Park last Saturday in the regular season finale for both teams.

The second game in the best-of-three, first-round series will take place at Geodis Park on Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. CT, and the third game — if necessary — will be Nov. 8 in Miami, at a time to be determined.

Nashville (16-12-6) will face a huge challenge in Miami (19-8-7), which is paced by international superstar Lionel Messi, the league’s reigning player of the year. Messi, the favorite to be named MLS MVP for a second straight season, collected

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