And just before halftime, the Rapids gained possession in their own half. A flick from Messi allowed Matteo Silvetti to fly in a cross for Bertram to head home from close range.
The Rapids came back into the game in the second half.
Just before the hour mark, Rafael Navarro picked up the ball inside his own half, drove through the centre, with a clever move inside a defender left to bury the ball in the bottom right.
Colorado coach Matt Wells immediately doubled down on action, replacing Hamzat Ojediran with attacker Darren Yappey. It gave excellent results.
Barely four minutes after their first goal, a precise ball from Lucas Harrington over the top gave Yapi a clean through with a diagonal run for the Rapids to equalise.
But Messi halted the home team’s comeback with a late heroics.
The game ended on a sour note as Bright was sent off for using abusive language while protesting a yellow card against his teammate Telasco Segovia.