Ex-Spurs defender Alderweireld calls Leo Messi the toughest opponent

‘You can’t get a grip on him!’: Former Spurs defender Toby Alderweireld declares Lionel Messi the toughest opponent he’s faced… and says Cristiano Ronaldo had nothing on the ‘elusive’ Argentine

  • Toby Alderweireld has declared Lionel Messi the toughest opponent he faced 
  • The former Spurs defender recalled struggling to contain him back in 2018 
  • The Belgian said the Argentine was the best, eclipsing even Cristiano Ronaldo
  • Alderweireld is with Belgian league leaders Royal Antwerp, while Messi’s at PSG 

Lionel Messi was the toughest opponent to face, according to former Spurs centre-back Toby Alderweireld.

Alderweireld, who currently plays for Royal Antwerp in Belgium, recently revealed this information on a podcast, which was summarised on Twitter.

Messi and the Belgian international crossed paths at club and country level, with the Argentine usually on the winning side.

Toby Alderweireld, left, declares Lionel Messi, right, the toughest opponent he has ever faced

There was one particular moment that stands out – playing Messi’s Barcelona in the group stages of the 2018 Champions League with Tottenham.

Alderweireld said: ‘I usually read the play on the field and often I succeed. But Messi…ooh. One night at Wembley when we lost 4-2 against Barcelona, he was unprecedented…really unprecedented.

‘You can’t get a grip on him. Everything he does, he does it just that little bit faster than you. He does this, then he does that, it goes so fast. I really had a feeling I couldn’t do anything against him.

‘You just hope time goes as fast as possible,’ he laughed.

Alderweireld, who used to defend for Tottenham, now plays for Belgian side Royal Antwerp

‘We got back into the game which was positive and negative,’ he added. ‘We started attacking more but I had to face him even more one-on-one because there was more space.

‘That’s the thing, you don’t know what he’s going to do. That’s the special thing, you can’t train for that.

‘You try to get in duels with him. He looks like a slender guy so you try to get physical. But he’s not slender at all, if you look at his thighs you think…wow. He is so fast. The quality, the ball control, It’s not normal.’

Whilst coming against Cristiano Ronaldo, right, many times, he believes Messi was the best

While the long-running debate about choosing between Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi will never be resolved, in 33-year-old Alderweireld’s eyes, there’s only one winner.

‘I played against Ronaldo many times. Of course, his numbers don’t lie, but Messi was the best, because he is simply elusive. You can’t get hold of him,’ Alderweireld said.

Royal Antwerp are top of the Belgian Pro League following Friday’s 2-0 win at home to STVV. Meanwhile, Messi, who is now at PSG, is also with league leaders, as they top Ligue 1 going into Saturday night’s visit to Reims.

Alderweireld recalled a particularly tough Champions League match against Barcelona in 2018




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