It is the sign of a truly great player: even when you beat him, stifle him, beat him back for an hour, he still somehow ends up winning the day. There was a degree of amusement before this Champions League quarter-final first leg at Chris Smalling’s suggestion he was looking forward to facing Lionel Messi; that the greatest club footballer in the history of the game should “bring it on”. Oh, Chris. Don’t. Please. No. Chris. Stop it.
But really, what else was Smalling supposed to say? How is he supposed to approach this? Messi does not operate to the usual rules, he is not an opponent in the usual sense. When the hour strikes Messi o’clock there is no sensible form of preparation, no tactical prep that can lessen his impact. You are simply an algorithm in his game, another zombie in his shoot-em-up.
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