Fans are all making the same point about Lionel Messi after Inter Miami are crushed by PSG in Club World Cup

Paris Saint-Germain knocked Major League Soccer's Inter Miami out of the Club World Cup and fans were quick to share their reactions on social media.

Lionel Messi played in the Round of 16 tie five days after his 38th birthday and came up against an imperious performance from his former club, who were comfortable from start to finish in Atlanta.

Inter Miami qualified for the knock-out stage after a win against Porto and draws against Palmeiras and Al Ahly gave them a second-placed finish in Group A and a spot in the last 16 of Gianni Infantino's divisive competition.

The Herons were invited to participate despite not actually winning anything to earn the right but fans have enjoyed Messi's performances at the tournament in the United States nonetheless.

That was still the case in Sunday's 4-0 defeat by the Parisians, with social media users demonstrating some spectacular logical gymnastics to absolve the Argentina captain of any blame for Inter Miami's CWC exit.

True to form – Messi has generally been much like his old self since moving to MLS, one or two injury issues aside – the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner stood out from the rest of the men in pink as they bowed out in meek fashion.

"Messi’s STILL somehow making things happen lol," posted one fan on X, formerly Twitter, presumably actually laughing out loud. "If he even had 2/3 proper outlets, Inter Miami would be 10x better."

"Man.. if only they signed good players instead of his friends.. the attackers they let go are ten times better than today’s Suarez," mused another, complete with dramatic pauses for effect.

"Bro Messi should deadass come back to Europe. He’s playing so good individual despite losing 4-0 as a team," wrote one slightly generous fan.

Lionel Messi during his time at Paris Saint-Germain (Image: Getty)

"These haters would never understand it," said another user who doesn't know how right he is.

"Like I said that grandpa [Luis] Suarez has no place in this team, and then some useless defenders he has," observed another.

Joao Neves scored twice before an own goal and Achraf Hakimi's stoppage-time strike took the European champions in at half time with a 4-0 advantage from which there was no coming back.

Even with Messi in their ranks, Javier Mascherano's Herons were dismantled and nobody, really, was surprised.

PSG will face Flamengo or Bayern Munich in Atlanta in the quarter-finals on Saturday.