5 players who stopped Lionel Messi
These few achieved what many couldn't - stop the Barcelona magician
It normally takes more than one man to stop Lionel Messi but these defenders worked in tandem to help stop one of the greatest players in the world from scoring. There is not much you can do when his feet are like a magnet that attracts the ball.
You either have to be lucky for him to have an off day or have a really good one yourself. These players/teams managed to do one of the two on at least one occasion. Messi would himself look back at these games and probably feel like he could not have done anything more either.
So here are 5 instances when players managed to contain the usually uncontainable Messi.
Although that argument is very flawed, on this particular occasion, Messi was nowhere near his best. But that was because of the organization of the German midfield and defense. Bastian Schweinsteiger was given the tough task of marking the little magician but he had help from Mertesacker and Boateng.
While Die Mannschaft were relentless in attack making it almost impossible for Argentina to get a foothold in the game, it was completely the reverse when the South American giants were in possession.
Messi was forced to push back and try and drop deeper every time to try and receive the ball because of the Germans limiting his impact higher up the field. The lack of penetration was very evident on the day and Messi was left in tears at the end of the game.
Maradona was the man in charge of that team in that world cup and he resigned right after they were knocked out of the tournament.
In fact, until the visit of the London club no team had managed to prevent Barcelona from scoring at the Camp Nou that season. Chelsea were the first team to do so and it was Jose Bosingwa’s job to limit the Argentinian on the night.
He managed to do that job pretty well. He only had a few chances to shoot and most of them were snuffed out by the center backs. He matched him for pace and did not give him an inch for most of the game.
It was a very solid overall display from the team and Barcelona failed to break through despite their strength in attack. Unfortunately for the Blues, they lost the tie on the away goals rule after a dramatic equalizer from Andres Iniesta in the dying minutes of the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
We fast forward to 8 years from that tie against Chelsea and Barcelona have an even stronger front three and arguably the best front three in the world. The three kings as they are referred to of Neymar, Messi and Suarez would strike fear into any team but PSG had a plan to stop them, one they executed to perfection.
In arguably Messi’s worst performance in a Barcelona shirt, the French giants ran riot against the Catalans not allowing them space or time on the ball. Barcelona’s tactics were all wrong and PSG knew how to hit them where it hurts.
They tried to play out from the back but ended up gifting possession back to PSG. So when plan A didn't work they turned to plan B – Lionel Messi. He was once again forced to try and drop as deep as possible to influence proceedings.
Unfortunately, Adrien Rabiot was on hand to stop him every time. He stuck to the dribbler like glue with the help of Verratti who was the interceptor of his passes. Messi could not find the angles he usually does with ease and it was a case of blocking out his vision completely.
The defenders did a job on him in the first half but given he hardly had any service, to begin with, Messi had to try and be the creator as well. But Rabiot and Verratti, saw to that and blocked any kind of dribble or forward pass channel for Messi to exploit.
Diego Godin is the probably the defender no attacker ever wants to go up against. Cristiano Ronaldo also despises him having been stopped several times by the Uruguayan himself.
Lionel Messi has managed to get the better of Godin on more than one occasion but he has not had such luck when he’s come face to face with the Atletico defender in the Champions League.
Twice in the last five years, Barcelona have been knocked out by
their Spanish rivals and on both occasions, it was a stern defensive
display that made it almost impossible for Barcelona to get a positive
result against them.
Godin has faced off against Messi several times in the past but his performance in the UEFA Champions League 2016 was one of his best ever. The Argentine was contained thanks to the captain’s brilliant on-pitch coordination and leadership.
Atletico ensured Messi did not manage a single shot on target but something that highlighted the brilliance of that team was the fact that he did not have a single touch inside the Atletico box all game, something that Messi failed to do only once in 2014.
Safe to say Barcelona will be hoping they aren;t paired up with Atletico once again in the round of 16 if they manage to go through to the next round.
One of the most iconic moments in UEFA Champions League history was Jose Mourinho’s extravagant celebration when his Inter Milan side defeated Barcelona in the semi-finals of the competition 7 years ago.
A game which was extremely competitive and heated resulted in a narrow 1-0 victory for Barcelona but an aggregate loss of 2-3. Inter went down to 10 men in the 28th minute after Thiago Motta was sent off for not going to the same drama club as Sergio Busquets.
The famous peeping tom incident led to Motta later grabbing Busquets
by the neck just before he walked off the pitch. Inter were forced to
defend against the Catalans for over an hour with just 10 men.
But it was arguably one of the best defensive displays in the modern era of football. Messi did have his chances to score but even with 10 men, he seemed to struggle to find a way through.
Cambiasso and Zanetti ganged up on him to prevent him from causing too much havoc and they did quite a fine job of it. The then 21-year-old was finding it difficult to get a shot on goal.
Apart from one attempt that Julio Cesar had to save at full-stretch, he was largely untroubled. Barcelona were dumped out of the competition and Mourinho got his revenge on Barcelona and Pep Guardiola.
It normally takes more than one man to stop Lionel Messi but these defenders worked in tandem to help stop one of the greatest players in the world from scoring. There is not much you can do when his feet are like a magnet that attracts the ball.
You either have to be lucky for him to have an off day or have a really good one yourself. These players/teams managed to do one of the two on at least one occasion. Messi would himself look back at these games and probably feel like he could not have done anything more either.
So here are 5 instances when players managed to contain the usually uncontainable Messi.
#5. Bastian Schweinsteiger(Argentina 0-4 Germany 2010 World Cup)
Lionel Messi has always had to carry the burden of not having been successful in international tournaments. The fans have always had complaints about the difference in his performances when playing for club and country.
Although that argument is very flawed, on this particular occasion, Messi was nowhere near his best. But that was because of the organization of the German midfield and defense. Bastian Schweinsteiger was given the tough task of marking the little magician but he had help from Mertesacker and Boateng.
While Die Mannschaft were relentless in attack making it almost impossible for Argentina to get a foothold in the game, it was completely the reverse when the South American giants were in possession.
Messi was forced to push back and try and drop deeper every time to try and receive the ball because of the Germans limiting his impact higher up the field. The lack of penetration was very evident on the day and Messi was left in tears at the end of the game.
Maradona was the man in charge of that team in that world cup and he resigned right after they were knocked out of the tournament.
#4. Jose Bosingwa (Barcelona 0-0 Chelsea UEFA Champions League 2009)
Jose Bosingwa might not be one of the most world renowned defenders in Chelsea’s history but he played like one on a night when it mattered the most for the Blues. The trio of Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi were one of the most feared in the world that year.
In fact, until the visit of the London club no team had managed to prevent Barcelona from scoring at the Camp Nou that season. Chelsea were the first team to do so and it was Jose Bosingwa’s job to limit the Argentinian on the night.
He managed to do that job pretty well. He only had a few chances to shoot and most of them were snuffed out by the center backs. He matched him for pace and did not give him an inch for most of the game.
It was a very solid overall display from the team and Barcelona failed to break through despite their strength in attack. Unfortunately for the Blues, they lost the tie on the away goals rule after a dramatic equalizer from Andres Iniesta in the dying minutes of the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
#3. Adrien Rabiot (PSG 4-0 Barcelona UEFA Champions League 2017)
We fast forward to 8 years from that tie against Chelsea and Barcelona have an even stronger front three and arguably the best front three in the world. The three kings as they are referred to of Neymar, Messi and Suarez would strike fear into any team but PSG had a plan to stop them, one they executed to perfection.
In arguably Messi’s worst performance in a Barcelona shirt, the French giants ran riot against the Catalans not allowing them space or time on the ball. Barcelona’s tactics were all wrong and PSG knew how to hit them where it hurts.
They tried to play out from the back but ended up gifting possession back to PSG. So when plan A didn't work they turned to plan B – Lionel Messi. He was once again forced to try and drop as deep as possible to influence proceedings.
Unfortunately, Adrien Rabiot was on hand to stop him every time. He stuck to the dribbler like glue with the help of Verratti who was the interceptor of his passes. Messi could not find the angles he usually does with ease and it was a case of blocking out his vision completely.
The defenders did a job on him in the first half but given he hardly had any service, to begin with, Messi had to try and be the creator as well. But Rabiot and Verratti, saw to that and blocked any kind of dribble or forward pass channel for Messi to exploit.
#2. Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid 2-0 Barcelona UEFA Champions League 2016)
Diego Godin is the probably the defender no attacker ever wants to go up against. Cristiano Ronaldo also despises him having been stopped several times by the Uruguayan himself.
Lionel Messi has managed to get the better of Godin on more than one occasion but he has not had such luck when he’s come face to face with the Atletico defender in the Champions League.
Godin has faced off against Messi several times in the past but his performance in the UEFA Champions League 2016 was one of his best ever. The Argentine was contained thanks to the captain’s brilliant on-pitch coordination and leadership.
Atletico ensured Messi did not manage a single shot on target but something that highlighted the brilliance of that team was the fact that he did not have a single touch inside the Atletico box all game, something that Messi failed to do only once in 2014.
Safe to say Barcelona will be hoping they aren;t paired up with Atletico once again in the round of 16 if they manage to go through to the next round.
#1. Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti (Barcelona 1-0 Inter Milan UEFA Champions League 2010)
One of the most iconic moments in UEFA Champions League history was Jose Mourinho’s extravagant celebration when his Inter Milan side defeated Barcelona in the semi-finals of the competition 7 years ago.
A game which was extremely competitive and heated resulted in a narrow 1-0 victory for Barcelona but an aggregate loss of 2-3. Inter went down to 10 men in the 28th minute after Thiago Motta was sent off for not going to the same drama club as Sergio Busquets.
But it was arguably one of the best defensive displays in the modern era of football. Messi did have his chances to score but even with 10 men, he seemed to struggle to find a way through.
Cambiasso and Zanetti ganged up on him to prevent him from causing too much havoc and they did quite a fine job of it. The then 21-year-old was finding it difficult to get a shot on goal.
Apart from one attempt that Julio Cesar had to save at full-stretch, he was largely untroubled. Barcelona were dumped out of the competition and Mourinho got his revenge on Barcelona and Pep Guardiola.
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