MESSI IN TOP FORM FOR A FINAL FLING

wants a team capable of defending without Messi, and one that attacks through him.

The 35-year-old’s nominal starting position is just behind striker Lautaro Martinez and it’s the Inter forward who has to work back when the team needs nine outfield players behind the ball. Behind Messi there are four midfielders. The evergreen Angel Di Maria plays on the right with Atletico Madrid schemer Rodrigo De Paul partnering Juventus midfielder Leandro Paredes in the middle, and Giovani Lo Celso, the Tottenham midfielder on loan at Villarreal, on the left. The idea is that this quartet make a solid bank of four in front of the defence when Argentina don’t have the ball and that when they attack, Lo Celso can tuck in and get