MY PLAN FOR MESSI? JUST HAVE FUN, SAYS POCH
MAURICIO POCHETTINO has told his players to enjoy playing against Lionel Messi when Tottenham take on Barcelona in the Champions League tomorrow night. The Spurs boss, who was on the pitch when Messi made his Barcelona debut as a 17-year-old in 2004, admitted he has no plan to stop the five-time Ballon d’Or winner. ‘I am not going to try to find a solution,’ Pochettino admitted. ‘I am going to say to the players, “Enjoy playing against Messi”. ‘You are going to have the opportunity to play against one of the best players in the history of football and more than worrying you, that needs to excite you to play. ‘So you can say, “Oh, I played against Messi” or “I played against (Diego) Maradona” or “I played against Ronaldo”. This is the type of player you are going to remember. ‘For your ego, it’s a thing that you are going to tell your kids and grandkids. Sometimes, my kids say to me, “Ah, you played with Maradona, you played with this or you play with that”. And they are so proud. So enjoy. Enjoy playing against Messi.’ Pochettino never got to call Messi a team-mate, though the two came close to crossing paths more than once. They both started their careers at Newell’s Old Boys but never met. Messi joined the Argentine club’s youth set-up in 1994 — the same year Pochettino left for Barcelona-based La Liga side Espanyol. Pochettino insists he has no plans to stop Messi and said: ‘It’s difficult to find solutions to try to stop him, I promise you. I think it’s impossible. ‘It’s only to enjoy it, to be close, to help the players that are going to face him. When you have the ball, try to have possession, to play in the opposite half, to try to push Leo to play far from your goal. If not, it’s terrible if he is close and takes the ball.’