It’s never easy defending against the two best players in the world. When Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are in full flight the audience watch in awe but their opponents are terrorized.
The two players have dominated both individual as well as collective awards with their respective clubs over the past few years. The biggest individual honour, the Ballon d ‘Or has been won by one of the two over the last eight years, with Messi winning 5 and Ronaldo with 3
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Giorgio Chiellini the Juventus centre-back has been one of the lucky few to have faced both men on the football pitch. In an interview with Eurosport Italia, he was asked on how to stop the two geniuses.
The Italian gave two very interesting answers. He provided a tactical analysis for Ronaldo but seemed to take a more religious method in stopping Messi.
Chiellini talked about how the role of the defender has evolved over the last few years saying,“In the last few years the role of the defender has been re-evaluated Everyone has to be good at understanding their role.”
He talked about the importance of having insight on the opposition stating, ”Experience helps you to read certain situations better and make less mistakes in terms of behaviour. Knowledge of the opponent is essential, too, individually as well as the team.”
When the defender was asked how he would mark Real Madrid’s Ronaldo he replied, “How do you mark Cristiano Ronaldo? You try not to leave him alone, don’t let him shoot on his right foot.”
But for Ronaldo’s Barcelona rival he gave an interesting approach saying, “And Lionel Messi? Just make the sign of the cross...”
The 31-year-old was a part of the Juventus team that reached the final of the UEFA Champions League last season. The Italian champions finished second best to a brilliant Barcelona team and lost the final 3-1. But Chiellini feels his team had an equal opportunity in the game to lift the trophy at the end of it.
He explained, “We could have won it because we had chances. When the game finished we knew we could’ve done better. If we have another opportunity we’ll arrive better prepared.”
Juventus face tough task at Bayern Munich
Juventus might find a little more difficult to repeat last year’s achievements in the Champions League after Bayern scored two away goals in Turin. But their second half performance against Bayern in the first leg of their round of 16 tie was heartening to watch.
The Old Lady fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with the German giants. They will have to bring out a similar performance when they travel to the Allianz arena if they are to have a chance of qualifying for the next round.
The two domestic champions will face off next week on the same day Barcelona play Arsenal.
