DOHA: Lionel Messi up against Virgil van Dijk. The youngest coach at the World Cup taking on the oldest. South America versus Europe. A back catalog of famous meetings.
The quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands on Friday has all the ingredients of a classic.
And the possibility of it being Messi’s final game on soccer’s biggest stage just adds to the anticipation.
The seven-time world player of the year is three wins away from achieving his ultimate dream but he has two people, in particular, blocking his path.
First, the not inconsiderable frame of Van Dijk, who has been one of the world’s best defenders over the past five years. If there’s anyone able to stop Messi on one of his trademark dribbles, it is the graceful Liverpool center back who combines pace with a great reading of the game.
And then there’s Louis van Gaal, the wily tactician who is 71, has recently undergone successful treatment for prostate cancer, and is now plotting to win the World Cup in perhaps the final job of his 26-year coaching career.
Van Gaal, who has long been one of the most charismatic characters in soccer, is approaching this task with a lot of fun — even on the eve of one of the biggest matches of his career.
On Thursday, he was told that Angel Di Maria, who plays for Argentina, thinks he is the worst coach he has ever played under following their time together at Manchester United in 2014-15.
Van Gaal said it was a pity Di Maria felt this way — “he is one of the few players to have said that,” he remarked, “as usually it is the other way round” — and added he once had a falling-out with Netherlands captain Memphis Depay, who was sitting next to him.
“Now we kiss each other,” Van Gaal said, leaning toward Depay with his arms out.
Van Gaal was also asked how he was planning to stop Messi — a question for which many coaches down the years have failed to come up with an answer.
“It’d be pretty stupid to reveal your own tactics,” he said, smiling. “But it’s not that difficult to come up with any answer. You could have come up with an answer yourself. You may want to block and close the passing lines. Am I right, Memphis?“
As for his Argentina counterpart, the 44-year-old Lionel Scaloni is a comparative novice after taking charge of his country in 2018 for his first senior coaching role. Still, he has already led Argentina to the Copa America title last year — the country’s first major trophy since 1993 — and has managed to steady his team after a shocking loss to Saudi Arabia in their opening group game.
While Van Gaal was predicting a tight match that will be settled by a “decisive moment,” Scaloni said it will be a “beautiful game because we are talking about two national teams willing to attack but who can also defend.”
It’s set to be a clash of styles between two of soccer’s historic powerhouses, with Argentina — a two-time champion — preferring to play a possession game and the Dutch — three times a beaten finalist — now typically playing on the counterattack under Van Gaal.
They have met in some high-profile World Cup games, none bigger than the 1978 final won by Argentina on home soil. There was also a last-16 match in 1998, won by the Netherlands thanks to a wonderful 90th-minute goal by Dennis Bergkamp, and then a penalty-shootout win by Argentina in the semifinals in 2014.
Messi played in that game and was kept relatively quiet by a team also coached by Van Gaal. Eight years later, Messi is still Argentina’s star player and put in his best performance in this World Cup in the 2-1 win over Australia in the round of 16.
“The tournament is starting tomorrow for us, for real,” Van Gaal said. “Although I don’t want to downplay the importance of the other countries we have beaten, Argentina and then potentially Brazil in the next round are different countries than those we played up to now.”
Scaloni was pressed on the fitness of midfielder Rodrigo De Paul, who might be a doubt according to some reports in the Argentine media, but gave little away.
Messi resumes World Cup quest as Argentina play Netherlands
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Messi resumes World Cup quest as Argentina play Netherlands
- The quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands on Friday has all the ingredients of a classic
- The seven-time world player of the year, Messi, is three wins away from achieving his ultimate dream
Holders PSG, Real Madrid among clubs awaiting Champions League play-offs draw
- The draw for the knockout stage play-offs takes place on Friday
- Europe’s elite club competition is now more bloated than ever since the expansion last season to 36 teams in the Champions League proper
PARIS: Title-holders Paris Saint-Germain and record 15-time winners Real Madrid are among the European giants who will have to come through the play-off round of this season’s Champions League after missing out on direct qualification for the last 16.
The draw for the knockout stage play-offs takes place on Friday from 1100 GMT after the league phase concluded on Wednesday with the eighth and final round of games.
There was real drama on the last night, in particular in Lisbon where Jose Mourinho’s Benfica beat his former side Real 4-2, goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scoring a 98th-minute goal that allowed the Portuguese giants to snatch the last spot in the play-offs and nudged their opponents out of the top eight.
Europe’s elite club competition is now more bloated than ever since the expansion last season to 36 teams in the Champions League proper.
That means 144 matches are now required to eliminate just 12 teams, with the top eight in the overall standings going through to the last 16 and the next 16 teams advancing to the play-offs.
At the end of it all, there are few real surprises, with the top 17 berths all occupied by clubs from the so-called big five European leagues of England (six), Spain (three), Italy (three), Germany (three) and France (PSG), with one exception in Portuguese giants Sporting.
Some big names did fall by the wayside, with Italian champions Napoli being bundled out along with three former champions in Marseille, PSV Eindhoven and Ajax. Athletic Bilbao, Villarreal and Eintracht Frankfurt were eliminated too.
The play-offs take place over two legs in February, with the eight winners completing the line-up for the last 16.
- Bodo/Glimt, Qarabag the surprises -
The most remarkable achievements in reaching the play-offs belong to Qarabag — the champions of Azerbaijan who advanced despite losing 6-0 to Liverpool in their final outing — and, above all, Bodo/Glimt.
Champions of Norway in four of the last six years, the outfit from north of the Arctic Circle beat Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in their last two matches to go through — despite their domestic season finishing at the end of November.
“We should be extremely proud,” said their coach Kjetil Knutsen, and Bodo/Glimt can now look forward to a glamor tie against either Real or last season’s beaten finalists Inter Milan.
The other possible tie for Madrid is an immediate rematch with Benfica, while other potential match-ups on Friday include PSG having to face domestic rivals Monaco and Borussia Dortmund having to play Bayer Leverkusen in all-Bundesliga showdown.
“We will have to take the long route, but I don’t think anyone else can be considered favorites more than us,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique of having to face an extra knockout tie, mindful that doing so last year did not stop the French side from going on to win the title.
“We deserve to be in this situation today,” admitted Real star Kylian Mbappe after his side’s loss in Lisbon saw them drop into the play-offs.
“Now we have to play two more play-off games. It hurts to have to play those, we wanted to have the time in February to work on our game.”
Real came through the play-offs last season, beating Manchester City before eventually losing to Arsenal in the quarter-finals.
This time City are one of their potential opponents in the last 16 in March, along with Sporting, should they make it through the play-offs.
Meanwhile, PSG already know they will play either Barcelona or Chelsea in the last 16, assuming they reach that stage — the Parisians beat Barcelona away earlier this season but lost to Chelsea in the Club World Cup final last July.
Arsenal, having finished first in the league phase, will take on one of Dortmund, Leverkusen, Atalanta or Olympiacos in the last 16.
Champions League knockout phase play-off draw teams
Seeded: Real Madrid (ESP), Inter Milan (ITA), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Newcastle United (ENG), Juventus (ITA), Atletico Madrid (ESP), Atalanta (ITA), Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
Unseeded: Borussia Dortmund (GER), Olympiacos (GRE), Club Brugge (BEL), Galatasaray (TUR), Monaco (FRA), Qarabag (AZE), Bodo/Glimt (NOR), Benfica (POR)
