Stopping Messi an impossible task, says Koke
MADRID: Atletico Madrid’s Spanish midfielder Koke admits it is almost impossible to stop Lionel Messi.
Messi and Argentina visit the Wanda Metropolitano for a friendly match with Spain on Tuesday, with the Barcelona star hoping to be involved after sitting out the 2-0 win over Italy on Friday with a hamstring problem.
“For me, he’s the best in the world,” he told Marca. “When you’re on the pitch against him, what you’re thinking is that he doesn’t have his best day.
“It’s very difficult [to stop him]. You have to cover a lot of ground, always help in defence... and hope it’s not his day.
“You know he’s going to start a move, you see it, you prepare to cover it... and then he does it. Or, he’ll suddenly invent something, because he has a lot of creativity. “Why isn’t he just taken out? Because it’s almost impossible.”
BUTLAND TO START IN GOAL AGAINST ITALY
LONDON: City’s Jack Butland will start in goal for England in their friendly match against Italy on Tuesday as manager Gareth Southgate continues the audition process for this year’s World Cup in Russia.
“No (Pickford) didn’t (do anything wrong against the Netherlands on Friday),” Southgate said. “At the beginning of the week we decided that’s what we were going to do, give them both a game for the experience.
BELOTTI WANTS TO PLAY FIRST TEAM FOOTBALL
MILAN: Italy and Torino forward Andrea Belotti will only move to a bigger club if he can be sure he plays regularly.
“They tell me I should go and play in a big club which plays in the big cup competitions, but I will decide what is best for me,” Belotti told state broadcaster Rai.
“I’m not interested in moving to a big club if I don’t play or get stuck on the bench. If I move, it’s to be a regular in the first team.”
GREEK FOOTBALL LEAGUE TO RESUME
ATHENS: Matches in Greece’s topflight f ootball division will resume on Saturday after being suspended for nearly three weeks, officials told Greek media on Monday.
The league was suspended on March 12 after the owner of the PAOK team invaded the pitch with a gun strapped to his belt.