FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Lionel Messi celebrates his goals with superhero poses and this week launched a Captain Messi action figure toy.

Fresh off back-to-back hat tricks for country and club, on a beautiful, balmy Friday night, Messi was poised to be a hero in his first MLS playoff game against Atlanta United. But it was his close friends and former FC Barcelona teammates Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba who provided the goals in a 2-1 win over Atlanta United in Game 1 of the MLS playoffs.

Suarez got things going two minutes into the game, tapping it past Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan with an assist from Paraguayan midfielder Diego Gomez. Miami remained in control the rest of the first half and nearly scored several times, with shots by Messi and David Martinez clanking off the post, and another by Marcelo Weigandt saved by Guzan.

Atlanta equalized 1-1 in the 39th minute on a goal by a poorly-marked Saba Lobjanidze, the Georgian midfielder who has given Miami fits all season. He scored twice in a 3-1 win against Inter Miami in May and also scored in a 2-2 tie against Miami in September.

The game remained knotted at halftime, despite Inter Miami dominating possession 68% to 32% and taking 13 shots, six on frame, compared to three shots and one on frame from Atlanta.

Messi and Suarez, proving they’ve still got it at age 37, combined for 40 goals and 25 assists during the regular season. Messi scored 20 goals and had 16 assists in 19 games. Despite missing 15 games, he finished tied for second in the Golden Boot race along with Suarez, who had 20 goals and nine assists in 27 games.

Messi added to his assist total on Friday, feeding Alba for a perfectly-executed play that began with a short Messi corner kick to the other Barcelona alum Sergio Busquets, who played it back to Messi, who passed to Alba, who cranked the ball with his left foot into the bottom right corner in the 60th minute.

A day earlier, Alba spoke with reporters about the telepathy he shares with Messi after so many years as teammates. “With just a look, we know where each other are going to be,” he said. “It is great to be playing with him again, and with Luis and Sergio.”

Messi sat out two months from mid-July to mid-September after suffering a serious right ankle sprain while playing for Argentina in the Copa America final at Hard Rock Stadium. He took a few games to get back into peak form.

“After the serious injury he suffered in the Copa America, we had to be very careful with Leo in his recovery and re-entry to training,” coach Tata Martino said. “We and the Argentina national team both were cautious with him ... we saw in the Bolivia game he was looser and more in rhythm, and [Saturday] his first touch was a pass to Jordi Alba that led to the [Cremaschi] goal. The feeling I have now is that we have him in the ideal situation to face the most important part of the season.”

Joining Messi and Suarez in the starting lineup for the 8:30 p.m. home game were goalkeeper Drake Callender; center backs Tomas Aviles and Martinez; left back Alba; right back Weigandt; midfielders Fede Redondo, Sergio Busquets, Gomez, and Yannick Bright.

In addition to Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham, among the other celebrities scheduled to be in the crowd were actors Brendan Hunt and Cristo Fernandez of the Ted Lasso series, football stars Odell Beckham, Jr., and Chad Ochocinco, Puerto Rican music star Tainy, and English actor/rapper Idris Elba.

The game was such a big deal to MLS that it was broadcast live in Times Square in the heart of New York City on the high-definition “Mega-Zilla,” a 78-foot by 330-foot screen that spans an entire city block on Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets.

Miami entered the playoffs as the top seed and Supporters’ Shield winner after posting 74 points, the highest total in MLS history, on 22 wins, four losses and eight ties.

Atlanta, meanwhile, squeaked in, earning a spot in the Eastern Conference wild-card game with the ninth and final slot and beat CF Montreal in a thrilling match Tuesday night that came down to a penalty-kick shootout. With the victory, Atlanta moved on to the Round One best-of-three series against Inter Miami.

Although Miami was the heavy favorite on Friday night, Messi and his teammates had not beaten Atlanta in their first two meetings this season.

Inter Miami lost only four of 34 games this season and one of them was to Atlanta United, 3-1, on May 29. That was the last time Miami lost at home.

The teams met a second time in Atlanta on Sept. 18 and Inter Miami, with a makeshift lineup and its stars coming in late off the bench, left the field gutted after settling for a 2-2 tie following an 84th-minute dagger from Atlanta’s Alexey Miranchuk.

Miami had just three regular starters in the lineup that day. Messi, Suarez and Alba were left out of the starting lineup to rest, and Busquets was suspended for yellow card accumulation. Martino was also suspended and watched the game from a stadium suite.

Atlanta is the only team that earned four points against Miami this season. Messi and his teammates are hungry to finally win in the game that matters most.

Every Round One game will have a winner; so, there will be no ties, no aggregate score. If a match is tied after regulation, no extra time will be played. It will go straight to a penalty-kick shootout.

After Round One, the rest of the tournament is single elimination games.

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