Closing Quote by Gerardo Martino

As far as I see it you just can't give Messi space in the dangerous areas - we have to close him down, get…

— Frank Lampard

Everyone needs to be in position to create the openings we have. We like to play a lot where you pass the ball forward…

— Kevin De Bruyne

When I've come up against a player that good, Messi - or even others - it's about facing him as a team. It's about…

— Javi Gracia

What Messi brings to a team, no other player can bring. Messi can break a match wide open.

— Mauricio Pochettino

The Messi of the early years was a phenomenon, but he always wanted to finish off the move. Now he goes past one, two,…

— Michael Laudrup

The Messi of the early years was a phenomenon, but he always wanted to finish off the move. Now he goes past one, two…

— Michael Laudrup

For many players the opportunity to be able to play with Messi represents a huge incentive.

— Quique Setien

Messi is a player who is able to go back, receive the ball, and create attacks, and then he can participate in the play…

— Dani Carvajal

When Messi plays the ball, everybody expects many things from him. Sometimes it's too much because we have to let Messi breathe a bit.

— Ernesto Valverde

As a finisher, there are few players as composed as Messi. When you can score as many different kinds of goal as he can,…

— Paul Scholes

There is no point going man-to-man with a player of Messi's ability. He is so clever he would drag your player all over the…

— Tony Pulis

When Messi has the ball centrally, with time, he has so many options to hurt you.

— Lothar Matthaus