"They used to have more control, but they were not that dangerous” - When Xabi Alonso made perfect plan with Sergio Ramos to restrict Lionel Messi
Former Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso revealed in 2017 how he worked with Jose Mourinho and Sergio Ramos to control Lionel Messi in El Clasico matches. The current Bayer Leverkusen boss moved out of his position to mark the Argentine and prevent him from having the ball, even though that meant Barcelona had more control of the ball.
Speaking on the Coaches Voice, Alonso conceded that Messi was too tricky to handle and they had to sacrifice a lot to keep him under check. He said:
"Me, Mourinho and Sergio Ramos talked about him a lot. We only started to control Messi when I was marking him. We sacrificed positions for me to mark him, but once we controlled Messi the matches were even. He used to be in this, like, false nine -- you know, it's been told so much about the false nine."
He added:
"But Xavi used to come here to get the ball, and when I used to go to press him -- this space -- Messi came from the number nine position to this position behind me. And they used to do two against one against me, and [Sergio] Ramos came to press Messi where this big space used to be created, and when Messi got [the ball] he used to play for [David] Villa or for Pedro in that position."
Alonso said:
"And that's... when we started controlling better this, I think that Ramos used to say, 'Xabi, Messi's coming.' And I didn't go to press Xavi where I would stay with Messi. They used to have more control, but they were not that dangerous. When we controlled a little better that situation, I think that we were closer to compete with them."
Despite their best attempts, Real Madrid only managed to win two out of their 10 matches between 2009 and 2014 against Barcelona, with Lionel Messi's side picking up six wins.
John Obi Mikel says Lionel Messi is from a different planet
Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel recently said that Lionel Messi was impossible to defend. He claimed they needed at least 2-3 players to keep tabs on the former Barcelona star.
Mikel also said that it was much easier to mark Cristiano Ronaldo. He believed that the Portuguese star was handled well by Ashley Cole and himself whenever they faced him.
Mikel went on to add that he had always been a big fan of Lionel Messi. He believes that the forward has been on a level of his own and can't be compared to others.