Over the years, several coaches have tried and failed to stop and contain Lionel Messi while playing against him. Despite the best attempts from some of the renowned coaches in the world, everyone has been rendered helpless in front of Messi. However, recently, Messi’s former FC Barcelona teammate has shared his view on how one can stop Messi.
Andres Iniesta was recently asked in an interview about how he, as a coach, would try and stop Lionel Messi. Iniesta said, “I will try to do what everyone does, which is to try to stop him by playing as a team and blocking the areas where he can move.” However, he did add that there always have to be two players who would be constantly marking the Argentine ace.
Q : If you were a coach, what is the best way you would do to stop Messi?
🚨🗣️Andres Iniesta :
“I will try to do what everyone does, which is to try to stop him by playing as a team and blocking the areas where he can move. It depends on the type of team, but I will put two… pic.twitter.com/2pwSdhQav9
— PSG Chief (@psg_chief) November 28, 2023
Iniesta also admitted that marking Mesi is futile since he always manages to lose his markers. He admitted that Messi’s knowledge of when to receive and pass the ball is what separates him from other players. Messi and Iniesta shared the pitch for almost two decades. The ex-FC Barcelona duo played an integral role in the club’s most successful era.
Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta won four Champions Leagues, three FIFA Club World Cups, nine La Liga titles, and so on. Iniesta left FC Barcelona in 2018 and played for Vissel Kobe for five years. Earlier this year, the 39-year-old star left Vissel Kobe and signed with the Qatari club Emirates.
Uruguay’s coach explained how stopping Lionel Messi is impossible
Meanwhile, Uruguay national team’s head coach Marcelo Bielsa recently explained his methods of stopping Lionel Messi. Argentina recently faced Uruguay in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers. Despite Uruguay securing a 2-0 win against the 2022 World Champions, Bielsa feels that stopping Messi is nearly impossible.
Marcelo Bielsa on how he plans to stop Messi:
“There is no formula to stop Messi. Sometimes you will have to ask him what would be convenient to try to stop him from playing well. Maybe this is good for football, that the best player in the world shines despite the formulas.” pic.twitter.com/3Zi3TyOrnz
— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) November 10, 2023
In a press conference before the clash against Argentina, Bielsa was asked about his plans to contain the Inter Miami star. To which, the veteran coach replied, “There is no formula to stop Messi.” Bielsa went on to state while stopping Messi is impossible, preventing him from playing well could be achieved by the teams. However, Bielsa did admit that Messi playing well is always in the best interest of soccer.
🗣 Ben Olsen, Houston Dynamo coach on his plans to stop Lionel Messi in the U.S Open Cup final vs. Inter Miami: “Let me ask the 5,000 coaches that have tried before to stop him that have not been able to, guys with better credentials than me”. Via ESPN. pic.twitter.com/T8xO5adLO3
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) September 26, 2023
In addition to this, MLS team Houston Dynamo’s coach Ben Olsen also talked about his view on stopping Lionel Messi. Olsen’s side faced Messi’s Inter Miami in the US Open Cup final a few months ago. Olsen conceded defeat by admitting that far more credible coaches than him have tried and failed to stop Messi. However, fortunately for Olsen, Messi sat out the final with an injury and Inter Miami lost against Houston Dynamo.