Speaking to Cadena SER, Leganes coach Javier Aguirre admitted he has no idea how to stop Leo from scoring:
“Well, I have no idea, because every team that I have faced him with, I could never stop him, that I remember. A small draw here and there, perhaps,” the manager said, admitting that Messi’s free-kicks resemble penalties.
While some suggested one way to stop Leo would be to remove the free-kick wall, Aguirre dismisses this idea altogether.
“One of the coaching staff proposed it today, and I told him, ‘look, if I leave Messi outside the box against Pichu Cuéllar, I give him 10 balls and he’ll score 11 goals,” Aguirre joked.
“There is no way,” Aguirre said.
“In the end, we have discussed it a lot. If we put one guy under the post, another laying on the ground… we try 20,000 ways. The most logical thing to do is to avoid unnecessary fouls. But it’s also not possible, because he escapes from you, the scoundrel!”
The Argentine legend managed a hat-trick of 2 free-kicks and one spot-kick in Celta win.
Barcelona will face Leganes away on November 23.
