'Messi made it easy for me to keep him quiet'
A former Liverpool star has revealed how Lionel Messi actually made it easy to keep him quiet during a famous victory over FC Barcelona.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup winner has only played against Premier League giants Liverpool four times in his career – with all those encounters coming in the UEFA Champions League – winning twice and losing twice.
One of said defeats came in a round of 16 tie in 2007. Former Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa had been given the strenuous task of man-marking a young, energetic Messi shortly after joining the Reds from Deportivo La Coruna in January that year.
The Merseyside club would emerge surprise 2-1 victors on the night at the Camp Nou, but lost the second leg by a goal to nil. They still, however, managed to knock the Blaugrana – who were the defending champions at the time – out of the competition courtesy of the way goals rule.
Reflecting on the encounter in which he managed to keep the Argentine silent, former Real Madrid star Arbeloa, who now coaches the Spanish giants' U19 side, said he still has clear memories of the match and what preceded it, including the instructions he received from then Reds boss Rafael Benitez.
"We played that day with me at left-back," Arbeloa told The Coaches' Voice.
"Two strikers up front, although [Dirk] Kuyt played a bit further back. [John Arne] Riise usually played at fullback, but that day [he] played ahead of me.
"That day, I had to mark Messi. I remember it perfectly. Rafa Benitez came to training one day in Liverpool and he told me that I was going to play left-back to mark Messi."
Arbeloa added that the Spanish tactician highlighted the Argentine's tendency at the time "to go inside", and thought that the former Spain defender would do
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