Messi's former teammate aiming to steal MLS Cup thunder after UCL despair

Messi's fate was confirmed after Inter Miami's shock first round elimination at the hands of Atlanta United.

However Messi's footprint on the MLS playoffs still exists, as one of his former teammates chases glory with the 13th club of his own glittering career.

Martin Caceres has enjoyed a decorated football journey spanning nearly two decades and taking him from La Liga and Serie A, to the Premier League.

In 2022, the Uruguayan defender signed with the LA Galaxy and after disappointing outcomes in his first two MLS campaigns, Caceres is now part of the Western Conference finalists who are the current favorites to win it all.

But going back all the way to 2008, Caceres was still trying to get his top-level career started in earnest.

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After making his initial breakthrough with his hometown club Defensor in Uruguay, Caceres moved to Spain and flourished during a season with then La Liga side Recreativo.

34 appearances convinced Barcelona to come calling, spending a considerable fee of nearly $16m to bring the central defender to the Camp Nou.

While there was excitement attached to Caceres' rise, the far bigger story emerging through the 2008/09 season belonged budding superstar Lionel Messi.

After scoring a combined 24 goals in the previous two seasons while announcing himself as one of the most exciting young players in the world, this was the year that Messi truly saw his potential reach the type of heights we've come to expect.

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38 goals in 51 games in all competitions ended with the La Liga title, Copa del Rey, and Champions League, Barcelona's talisman scoring in the showpiece final to help beat Manchester United.

Left on the bench for that triumph in Rome, Caceres' successes and failures was another bubbling story in the background of Messi's first ever Ballon d'Or campaign.

Arriving with extremely high hopes, so much so that Barcelona included a $60m release clause in his contract, Caceres struggled to get going following the big move.

He made just one start before February and ended the season with only eight La Liga starts as well as two in the Champions League. His greatest involvement was getting sent off in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal.

Still, it was a season of silverware success for Caceres, thanks in no small part to Messi.

Now, more than 15 years later, Caceres is on path for one trophy that Messi will have to wait for to cap off an historic career.

While his lone season at Barcelona was something of a failure, Caceres' career has been a major success. He went on to play more than 100 times for Juventus while also appearing regularly for Sevilla and Fiorentina.

Meanwhile, he ended his international career with 116 caps for Uruguay, sixth in his nation's all-time list.

Outside of his Barcelona disappointment, the only other real failure was three months with Southampton where he made only one Premier League appearance before being released.

An interesting quirk of his sojourn to England was that once again he was an unused substitute in a final against Manchester United, this time ending on the losing side as Southampton were beaten in the League Cup final.

Caceres can thank Messi for his three titles with Barcelona including his lone Champions League glory.

But without the iconic No 10 by his side, he managed to claim six Serie A titles as well as the Copa America with Uruguay in 2011.

As Inter Miami plan for next season with the appointment of Javier Mascherano as manager, Caceres and the LA Galaxy are one game away from the MLS Cup final.

After a 6-2 victory in the Conference semifinals against Minnesota United, Caceres and co now face the Seattle Sounders for Western supremacy.

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This is the furthest the Galaxy have gone in the playoffs since winning it all in 2014 and with a proven winner like Caceres in their team, they have a real shot at glory 10 years on from that triumph.

In the Eastern Conference, Orlando City face the New York Red Bulls and the winners will meet for the right to be MLS Cup champions.