Lionel Messi has delivered countless spellbinding performances throughout his illustrious career. The Barcelona icon, who holds the record for most Ballon d’Or triumphs with eight awards to his name, must have an entire room in his home devoted to his myriad of Man of the Match mantles.
One of his earliest unforgettable displays came in the Champions League at Old Trafford during the 2007-08 season. At just 20 years old, Messi bossed the pitch, leaving Manchester United defenders in his wake during his inaugural appearance at the hallowed Theatre of Dreams. Despite United clinching a narrow 1-0 victory thanks to a stunning strike from Paul Scholes, Messi was undeniably the star of the match, showcasing his incredible talent and flair, and was unlucky to find himself on the losing side.
The video of the magical Argentinian effortlessly outmanoeuvring the match’s lone goalscorer remains an image of greatness – an instance that resurfaces every anniversary. For Scholes, however, this encounter marked only the first of many battles with Messi, and by the time the Englishman retired, he was certain he’d faced the greatest. Scholes himself admitted that Messi was the one player he actively tried to avoid.
What Paul Scholes Has Said About Lionel Messi
He said Messi was impossible to read like other players
Scholes is regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of the 21st century, renowned for his unmatched ability to read the game and stay a step ahead of his opponents. Yet, Messi made him question even this defining skill. Talking to ‘Football’s Greatest Podcast’, he said:
“You were lucky [not to play against Messi]. But it wasn’t just him. Look at the three in midfield: Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, then you had Messi. When you’re up against a midfield player, and you’re one-on-one, which you hope you don’t get in that situation, with some players, you’d be able to read them, you know where they’re going, and sometimes, you can take it off them.
“With him, I didn’t have a clue. I had absolutely no idea what he was going to do. Whether he was going to go to the left, whether he was going to go to the right, or through my legs. He could have done anything, and you just had to guess. If you missed the ball, you had to get him. “
“But that team as a whole was incredible,” he continued. Talking about the 2009 Champions League final, he added: “After that first 10 minutes in Rome, they just totally out-played us…”
Certainly, it wasn’t the first time Scholes was asked to speak about Messi, neither is it expected to be the last. “I am not ashamed to admit that in the games against Barcelona I spent a lot of the time just hoping he would take up positions as far away from me as possible,” wrote Scholes in a column for the Independent in 2015, after facing Messi on four occasions throughout his career.
“Elusive is the word that immediately springs to mind when I think about Messi’s style of play. You think you have an eye on him and then – blink – he has gone, only to reappear somewhere else in space, with the ball. When you try to face up to him and make a tackle you know what it is he is going to do with the ball. The problem is staying with him.”