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Liverpool’s run-ins with Lionel Messi in the Champions League semi-finals in 2019 sparked a number of flashpoints, with one of their former coaches not a fan.
The story of Liverpool’s comeback triumph over Barcelona to reach the final of the Champions League is one of the most iconic in the club’s history.
That they did so against a side including the world’s best player, in Messi, makes the achievement even more remarkable.
Messi started both legs of the semi-final and netted twice in Barcelona’s 3-0 win at the Nou Camp, though his second – a free-kick that deflected in off Joe Gomez – came as he somehow bought a foul after throwing a fist at Fabinho.
At Anfield a week later, Andy Robertson left his mark on Messi and the Argentine was subdued throughout a 4-0 victory for Liverpool.
John Achterberg was in the dugout alongside Jurgen Klopp for those ties as goalkeeping coach, and speaking to The Football Historian Podcast he gave his honest view on Messi.
“I would go for Messi [over Cristiano Ronaldo], because I like his kind of crazy magic,” he said.
“But when we played him, I thought he was a diving c***. That’s true. I think he sometimes has the wrong arrogance a little bit, and I don’t like that.
Lionel Messi is an arrogant diver ?
? @1JohnAchterberg pic.twitter.com/Mwou5qepSK
— The Football Historian Podcast (@TheFHPod) July 24, 2024
“I like his football skills, but when we played them, he was f***ing diving, got the free-kick and then scored.
“I liked it when we played them at home and Robbo smashed him. I thought to myself, ‘you f***ing do him, c***’!”
Achterberg is clearly not afraid to speak his mind, particularly now he has left Liverpool for Saudi club Al-Ettifaq.
And the Dutchman went further when asked who he felt was the best player beyond Messi and Ronaldo to have played in the last 20 years.
He labelled the Ballon d’Or “corrupt,” citing how Salah has been overlooked for the award while Messi has won three of the last four prizes.
“Mo, that year, he was unbelievable. Messi and Ronaldo were nowhere near him and it still goes to Messi, that’s a scandal,” he argued.
“Because Mo was the best player that season, [and should have] won the trophy.”
Elsewhere in his interview, Achterberg hinted how close Liverpool came to losing Alisson this summer.
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