Even if the Argentinean superstar has only been able to score one goal in this Copa América edition, his performance has improved as games have gone by. After the semi-final match against Paraguay, it became pretty clear that although stats don't support "La Pulga" in this tournament, his contribution to the team can be rather good by creating spaces for his team-mates, as well as his ability to dish out assists. When it comes to Saturday's game, Messi will try to beat one of the men that helped him achieve one of the best seasons in his team's history: none other than Claudio Bravo, Chile's goalkeeper.
Messi dominates the meetings between them
Before Bravo joined Los Blaugranas this season, the Chilean goalkeeper made a name for himself at Real Sociedad, where he was able to lead a not so talented team to the UEFA Champions League Group Stage in the 2013-2014 season. Back then, Real Sociedad became one of the toughest team to beat for Barcelona, but the overall record shows that whenever these two players met, Messi got the best out of it. In eight games, Messi's Barça won four against Bravo's Real Sociedad, with three wins for the Txuri-Urdin and one draw. In those games, Messi scored eight goals. When you talk about meetings between their National Teams, Messi has not been able to score only twice while facing Bravo.
La Pulga against Bravo, in one of the games won by Barcelona.
How can Chile's defense stop Messi?
Without Gonzalo Jara, one of Chile's toughest defenders, every chance La Roja has of stopping Messi will heavily rely on what Gary Medel, Arturo Vidal and Marcelo Díaz can do. Usually, Jorge Sampaoli tries to attack down the flanks, leaving the holding midfielders paying close attention to the opponent's most talented player, and in this case, Messi will have to deal with the trash-talking style of Chile's defenders. While giving only one man the duty of stopping the Argentinean might prove to be impossible, the best way Chile has to stop the talent of Messi has to be zonal marking. The most recent example is the Champions League final, where Vidal, Pogba, Marchisio and others took turns marking -and fouling- Messi, and the Argentine's performance was rather sub-par. If a similar approach is taken by Sampaoli, Chile might stand a chance against the heavily favored Albiceleste.
Medel tries to catch Messi in a WC qualifier in 2013.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
Chile P0 - 0 Argentina
July 4, 2015 4:00pmEstadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos (Santiago de Chile)This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
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