Atlanta United next to try and stop Lionel Messi

Hundreds of managers and thousands of players have tried to figure out how to stop Lionel Messi.

Atlanta United will get its shot on Tuesday.

ExploreInfo to know: Atlanta United at Miami in Leagues Cup

The Five Stripes and manager Gonzalo Pineda, who once played against Messi, will get their chance when they play Inter Miami in Leagues Cup action in Fort Lauderdale. It will be second match with the club for Messi, generally regarded as one of the best players ever in the sport

“I have a lot of admiration for him as a player as a footballer and what he’s done in his career,” said the 40-year-old Pineda, who faced the 36-year-old Messi when Mexico faced Argentina in the 2006 World Cup. “I think we’re blessed to be in this era where we are able to see Messi but once the whistle blows, I just see my team being a better team. And that’s what I care about.”

Pineda said there are no special tactics to stop Messi, who has scored 711 goals and has won 12 league championships with Barcelona and Paris-Saint Germain, four Champion Leagues, one Copa America and one World Cup with Argentina.

Pineda said Atlanta United will do what it tries to do every game: win the ball, maintain possession and thereby limit Messi’s effectiveness.

Cruz Azul tried that. It worked...until it didn’t.

Messi hit a free kick from 20-plus yards in the fourth minute of stoppage time to secure Miami’s 2-1 win.

Atlanta United goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who was on the wrong end of a 30-yard Messi free kick when the U.S. played Argentina in the Copa America in 2016, said everyone knew what was going to happen as Messi stood over the ball against Cruz Azul.

“The stars were aligning for a perfect finish to his debut in terms of all the hype that has been going on around his announcements, around his signing, coming to Major League Soccer coming to this country in terms of lifting the sport itself, and to then have his debut capped off the way did, now there’s no doubt in my mind was probably going to be in the back on the net,” Guzan said.

Like trying to stop Messi during the flow of a game, Guzan said it’s very difficult to stop a Messi free kick. The team can start by not giving away free kicks from 25 yards in. Midfielder Santiago Sosa said it’s something Atlanta United has talked about trying not to do. Guzan said it’s possible that he would put a player on the post on the opposite side of the goal from where he is if there is a free kick. That tactic wouldn’t have stopped Messi’s free kick against Cruz Azul, which glided into the top corner.

Beyond that...

“You put your faith and trust in the wall to hopefully get a touch on it,” Guzan said. “And then, if not, you see where the chips fall and if you can get to the ball.”

There is more than just Messi.

Miami also features striker Josef Martinez and manager Gerardo Martino, key figures in Atlanta United’s 2018 MLS Cup. The team also now includes midfielder Sergio Busquets, one of the best passers of his generation, and fullback Jordi Alba, who along with Busquets also played with Messi at Barcelona.

Tuesday will be Martino’s third game with Miami, Busquet’s second and Alba’s first.

Pineda said he hasn’t watched tape of Atlanta United under Martino in an attempt to gather more information. Pineda said he has a great respect for Martino and knows how he wants his teams to play, as well as for Miami’s players. Pineda said Miami will attempt to do isn’t a secret.

That is why Pineda said Atlanta United maintaining possession will be key.

“I think we have to be the dominant team, we have to be in the front foot we have to be good in possession, we have to connect the passes when it’s needed, we have to actually put them on the on the other half, put them in their own third,” he said. “So then, for them to bring the ball to Messi in our own 30, it will be 70, 80 yards. So that’s the approach we’re taking on how we’re going to defend Messi, is with the ball, is having more of the ball than them.”

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Atlanta United’s 2023 MLS schedule

Feb. 25 Atlanta United 2, San Jose Earthquakes 1

March 4 Atlanta United 1, Toronto FC 1

March 11 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte FC 0

March 18 Atlanta United 5, Portland 1

March 25 Columbus 6, Atlanta United 1

April 1 Atlanta United 1, New York Red Bulls 0

April 8 Atlanta United 1, New York City FC 1

April 15 Atlanta United 2, Toronto FC 2

April 23 Atlanta United 2, Chicago 1

April 29 Nashville SC 3, Atlanta United 1

May 6 Inter Miami CF 2, Atlanta United 1