Devising a plan to stop Lionel Messi is no easy task. Many managers in the world have tried and emerged unsuccessful in their attempts to reduce the Argentine’s influence. In this context, former Atletico Madrid star Filipe Luis has revealed an interesting strategy used by club manager Diego Simeone. The Brazilian was a trusted lieutenant of Simeone between 2010-14 and 2015-19. Yet, looking back it might not have been the most efficient way to stop Messi.

Messi and Simeone last faced off in the 2020/21 La Liga season. This was a rare occasion where Simeone successfully restricted the Barcelona maestro. The match ended in a 0-0 draw and Atletico Madrid went on to win La Liga that year. With the soccer legend not in La Liga this time around, Simeone and Co. have one less problem to worry about.

Diego Simeone’s man-marking approach with a twist to stop Lionel Messi

On the Charla Podcast, Filipe Luis divulged some of the tactics used by the Argentine Manager against Lionel Messi. He said, “Simeone didn’t say his name. He said, let’s mark ‘el-enano'” – (the Spanish word for dwarf). The defender also gave the reason for such an analogy. As per him, it was to avoid scaring the Atletico Madrid players against the prospect of facing the Argentine wizard. Filipe also revealed his approach to marking Lionel Messi.

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He explained, “I concentrated a lot to mark him. I watched practically all of Messi’s games from 2006 to 2016.” Furthermore, Luis Filipe revealed his respect for the great Argentine by referring to him as the best player he has come against.

However, Simeone and Filipe Luis’ methods against Lionel Messi haven’t been the most successful. With 32 goals and 9 assists in 43 games, Atletico remains one of the veteran playmaker’s favorite opponents in his career. Moreover, Lionel Messi has emerged victorious in 24 of these games with just 8 defeats. Perhaps, this might have played a hand in Kieran Trippier’s recent comments.

Trippier reveals Simeone’s intriguing Messi remarks

The Englishman who played for the Atletico Boss between 2019-2022 revealed how Diego Simeone prepared him to mark Lionel Messi. Trippier said, “You can’t, to be fair and it’s funny because obviously, [Diego] Simeone was the manager. Both Argentinian and even he was just saying before the meetings just basically like ‘pray!’ Yeah, he’s just…you just can’t do anything.” He added that nothing could stop the Argentina captain considering his uniqueness.

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Interestingly, Simeone himself recently lavished praise on his countryman and termed him as the best player in the world. He also hinted that Lionel Messi has nothing left to win following the Qatar triumph. A fitting tribute considering their intense rivalry. What is your opinion regarding Simeone’s unique approach toward Messi? Let us know in the comments below.

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