Manchester United legend heaps praises on former Barcelona star Lionel Messi after UEFA Champions League humiliation.
Four UEFA Champions League championships were won by Lionel Messi when he was a member of Barcelona. And in the championship games, two of those victories were at Manchester United’s expense.
In fact, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils were defeated by Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering squad in two Champions League finals — the first in Rome during the 2008–09 season and the second in London at Wembley during the 2010–11 campaign.
Rio Ferdinand, a pillar of that Manchester United club, recently discussed how it was nearly impossible for him and his team to stop the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner in the documentary “Messi.”
In reference to the 2008–09 final in Rome, which United lost 2-0, Ferdinand claimed that the Red Devils had confidence they could win the game, but Messi’s infamous headed goal in the second half ended any aspirations they had of upsetting Barcelona.
“Until Messi scored a header in Rome in 2009, we thought we may win this game. I would wager on some players’ inability to get the ball past me in the Premier League and even in the Champions League, Ferdinand stated (via BBC).
And I did it in the UCL championship game, but Xavi was the one who had the ball at the time.
You need to get to know the players you are dealing with before you can put the ball on Messi’s sixpence for an incredible headed goal.
He hasn’t scored many of them, but this time he did, and that’s what makes a good player into a great player, he remarked.
Ferdinand continued by saying that while Manchester United had previously faced off against Messi and had been able to contain him, they encountered a different opponent in Rome who had the opportunity to operate freely in the final third and was therefore unstoppable.
“We had previously played him and had him cornered. But this Messi was different, noted the legendary Manchester United player.
“This Messi had more freedom to move around and play in the middle, whereas in the past he was typically positioned out wide where you could somewhat contain him. He was still fantastic, but when given the ability to travel anywhere and appear anyplace, he became unplayable. Ridiculous.”
In the Wembley final two years later, when Barça defeated Man United 3-1 in their own country to win the Champions League, Ferdinand continued to maintain that Messi was far superior.
He actually performed better at Wembley. I recall Scholesy and I standing on the field together as we watched him go and lift the trophy. Messi was the primary component, according to the former England international, who claimed that they “simply grabbed our spirit.”
“He is just an amazing football player; words cannot express how excellent he is. You analyze situations and consider what you “should have, would have, could have” done.
“But it is practically impossible when it happens at the rate it did and when you have a player like Messi who makes judgments faster and more effectively than anybody else. Unplayable in Lionel Messi’s prime, he concluded.
