Alessandro Nesta has revealed what it was like going head to head with Lionel Messi in the Champions League when he was 37 years of age.
Nesta’s football legacy is as strong as what his defensive skills was. His extensive career saw him face some of football’s most gifted attackers – including the likes of one certain Lionel Messi.
In an exclusive interview with Calciatori Brutti (via ITASportPress), Nesta elucidated some memorable moments from his successful playing career and underlined Messi’s strength as his own point of struggle.
He said: “The thing that made me depressed is that he had left ten times in ten minutes and I was starting to struggle at 37.
“In the tenth minute I kicked him and fell to the ground exhausted, I could see the stars. He was already giving me his hand to pull me up. There he mentally destroyed me. Do you understand? I was on the ground and when after two seconds I open eyes I see his face with his hand in front that he wanted to help me get up. He mentally destroyed me there. “
Nesta left Milan in 2012, having secured 326 caps for the Rossoneri, before moving to Canada and then India to see out his playing days couple of years later.
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And yet you controlled him in that match better than most have done since.
What a legendary defender!
37 years old, and struggle facing one of the best or we can say the best footballer of all time in his young age who’s fast and agile is not a shame. You’re still the elegant and one of the best Defender of all time
Nesta’s toughest opponent at the end of his career was Lionel Messi. But in a Champions League match in 2011, Nesta amazingly stopped Messi’s movement.
Messi skillfully dribbled his way into the box and was about to pull the trigger, but Nesta tracked back and delivered the perfect slide tackle. The moment happened in the 54th minute of the game.
He’s a real legend. Nesta is one of Milan’s best defenders alongside Baresi and Maldini