Liverpool superstar hails Lionel Messi as his childhood idol, names ex-teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold as the best passer of a ball he's ever seen

Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has named eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi as his footballing idol and Trent Alexander-Arnold as the best passer of the ball he’s ever seen.

Mac Allister, who joined Liverpool from Brighton & Hove Albion in 2023, has established himself as one of the best midfielders in the Premier League in recent seasons. He played a crucial role in the Reds’ Premier League triumph last season.

The 2025 PFA awards was held on Tuesday, August 19, and the 26-year-old bagged important nominations at the event. He was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for 2024-25 and was on the final six-man shortlist for the 2024/25 Men’s PFA Players' Player of the Year award. However, he was beaten to the individual accolade by teammate Mohamed Salah.

During a quick-fire Q&A session with GOAL at the PFA Awards, Mac Allister mentioned that Lionel Messi was his favorite footballer as a child and identified Trent Alexander-Arnold as the best passer of the ball he has ever seen. Interestingly, Mac Allister has shared the pitch with both players. He shares the same nationality as Messi, while he shared the locker room with Arnold at Liverpool for two seasons.

To date, Mac Allister and Lionel Messi have played together 29 times but are yet to combine for a goal. Both played a key role for Argentina on the road to World Cup glory in 2022. He and Arnold have played together 67 times but are also yet to combine for a goal.

When Lionel Messi said Barcelona failed to ‘compete’ after defeat to Liverpool

Back in 2019, Lionel Messi didn’t hold back in his criticism of Barcelona’s performance after Liverpool eliminated them in the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Barcelona had won the first leg 3-0 at Camp Nou, but Liverpool staged an incredible comeback, winning 4-0 at Anfield to secure a 4-3 aggregate victory.

Speaking in a press conference after the defeat, Messi claimed Barcelona allowed Liverpool to walk over them in the return leg. He told reporters (via Sky Sports):

"I had a great first season as captain, apart from the Liverpool game. Regrettably, that game has tainted the season. I haven't watched the game again, it was very similar to Roma where we went into the game and suddenly they scored. We reacted well, then they [Liverpool] scored the second goal and we didn't compete, the worst thing is that we didn't compete. We let them walk all over us.

"We were all thinking about being champions and we were all very disappointed, first for the elimination, second for the manner, third for the fact it happened again. It was a very tough blow to take and it was tough to lift ourselves up, you could see that in the next few games. Now we have a final, a chance for a trophy, we have the chance to do a double and finish the year well, we have to win it like every final we play in."

To date, Lionel Messi has played against Liverpool four times, with resulta evenly shared - two wins and two defeats.