“You can do that just by being close to him” - Cristiano Ronaldo’s ex-teammate explains how to ‘stop’ Lionel Messi
Former Manchester United centre-back Wes Brown recently explained his gameplan to 'stop' ex-Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi. The 44-year-old, who played with Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford, claimed that a defender just had to be 'close to him' to have a chance of stopping his runs.
Brown was handed the responsibility of defending Messi when the Red Devils faced off against Barca in the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League semi-finals. The Argentine was an emerging 20-year-old star, having bagged 15 goals and 12 assists in 34 games across all competitions in the 2007-08 campaign before the fixtures against United.
The Englishman was exemplary in his role, putting on a defensive masterclass to keep the talismanic forward goalless across the two legs.
Manchester United managed a 0-0 draw away at Camp Nou, and a strike from Paul Scholes at home earned them a 1-0 win on aggregate. Speaking on Reach's Euro Thrash podcast, Brown explained his strategy to keep Messi subdued.
He said (via Express):
"Once he picks the ball up and starts running, you're in trouble. Somehow, you've got to stop that. You can do that just by being close to him, so he has to pass it, but you definitely don't want him getting it, turning and running at you at full pace. He is very hard to tackle. Not only that, he will bring you out of position to make space for other people to run into."
Manchester United would go on to lift the trophy, beating Chelsea in the final. Ronaldo's opener (26') was cancelled out by Frank Lampard's equalizer (45'), sending the game into a penalty shootout.
While the Portuguese icon missed his penalty, John Terry's infamous slip and shotstopper Edwin van der Sar's save from Nicolas Anelka sealed a 6-5 shootout win for United.
"I'd had it drilled into me" - When former Manchester United defender Wes Brown revealed Sir Alex Ferguson's instruction to defend against Lionel Messi
Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown once revealed the instruction given by legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson to help him defend against Lionel Messi.
In a 2021 book titled "Manchester United: Unscripted", the former English centre-back claimed (via Express):
"I remember those words going round and round in my head before we played Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals. I'd had it drilled into me by the gaffer. More often than not, it would be my job to keep an eye on Lionel Messi, and the instructions were simple. 'Don't. Dive. In'. Over and over again, that was the message."
Brown added that him and his teammates were excited about the prospect of facing up against the Argentine maestro, whom he called 'one of the best players in the world'. He said:
"Messi was only 20 at the time, but he was already one of the best players in the world. Everybody knew all about him. He and Ronaldo were only young, but they'd both just finished in the top three for the Ballon d'Or. Obviously we trained with Ronny every day, but this was the first time we were coming up against Messi and it was something we were excited about."