Things... ...from the 2025 MLS regular season

Lionel Messi is set to become the first player in 30 seasons of MLS to win the league's Most Valuable Player award in back-to-back years.

- JAMES NALTON

1 ANOTHER MVP SHOWING FROM MESSI

The only other player to have won the prize twice is Predrag Radosavljevic, better known as “Preki”, who did so with Kansas City Wizards in 1997 and 2003.

For a while, it looked like Messi may have left the door open for someone else to take the league's top individual gong in 2025, especially as his Inter Miami team, with their disorganised, leaky defence, failed to match Messi's level.

The winners of the 2024 Supporters' Shield failed to defend their crown, perhaps not helped by their league campaign being frequently interrupted by cup competitions. They reached the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, advanced from the group stage at the Club World Cup, and lost to Seattle Sounders in the Leagues Cup final.

Yet despite the disruption, Messi remained world-class, eventually becoming the obvious choice for MVP, which should be confirmed before the MLS Cup final in December. In a period between May and July, he hit braces in five consecutive games, and finished the regular league season with 29 goals and 19 assists in 28 appearances.

2 A SECOND SHIELD FOR PHILADELPHIA UNION

While many eyes were focused on whether Inter Miami could use their games in hand to climb back to the top of the league following the Club World Cup, Philadelphia Union kept their heads down and got the job done.