Champions League: Lionel Messi Should Be Kept Quiet, AS Roma Coach Says

AS Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco has urged his team to keep Lionel Messi quiet like they did in the first-leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash against Barcelona.

The Serie A outfit take on the Catalan giants in the second-leg Tuesday night at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome, but face a monumental task of overturning a 4-1 deficit from their match at the Camp Nou on April 4.

Messi was unable to get on the score sheet in the first encounter with two of the four goals coming as own goals, while the other two were scored by Luis Suarez and Gerard Pique. It was put down to the Argentinean superstar lacking match fitness as it was his first start after returning from a hamstring injury.

The 30-year-old missed both of Argentina’s recent friendlies due to the injury and was a second-half substitute for their 2-2 draw against Sevilla, leading up to the first-leg of the quarter-final against AS Roma.

Di Francesco, however, dismissed suggestions it was fitness issues that kept him from scoring and believes his team were disciplined enough to “limit his movement” during the game. Talks regarding lack of fitness looked misguided as Messi went on to score a hat-trick during their 3-1 win over Leganes in the La Liga on Saturday.

The Roma coach is aware his side face an uphill battle to progress, but wants his team to stop Barcelona from scoring and take advantage of the opportunities they create in offence. Edin Dzeko’s has given them one away goal from the first-leg and they will need to win 3-0 at the minimum to have a chance of progressing to the last four of the Champions League.

“Everyone was saying he wasn't fit and suddenly he scored a hat-trick,” the Roma coach told a pre-match news conference on Monday, as quoted on Yahoo Sports. “This means we managed to limit his movement between the lines. We have to reduce the space around him as much as possible, wherever he pops up on the pitch.”

“Barcelona's strength comes from their mentality, which starts from the youth academy and has been built up over the years. They manage games superbly, using the ball well and making few mistakes. … We forced them into errors in the first leg, but we didn't take advantage of it. On the other hand, we paid dearly for our mistakes. We want to control the game but not concede,” Di Francesco added.

Meanwhile, Antoine Griezmann, has finally responded to speculation suggesting he has already agreed terms to move to Barcelona in the summer. The Atletico Madrid star denied the rumors and made it clear there is no agreement with the Catalan club at the moment.

“I don't know where that information comes from,” Griezmann said on TF1's Telefoot football show after Atletico’s 1-1 draw with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday, as quoted by Marca. “But I don't know anything about it, so, for now, there is nothing. These reports are false.”