New England Revolution

‘That’s why he’s the best.’ How the Revolution tried to defend Lionel Messi, and how the greatest took them apart

The slightest of cracks was all the Argentine needed to shred the Revolution’s assiduously constructed game plan.

By Hayden Bird, The Boston Globe

April 29, 2024

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For the first 30 minutes of the Revolution’s matchup with Inter Miami on Saturday evening, the plan to thwart Lionel Messi — as unbelievable as it might have seemed — appeared to be working.

In fact, thanks to New England forward Tomás Chancalay’s spectacular opening goal in the first minute, Caleb Porter’s last-place team found itself in a position Revolution fans have rarely seen in 2024: They were winning.

Leading up to the game, Porter outlined his plan. He candidly acknowledged that he was under no illusions about the prospect of trying to shut down the legendary Argentine forward for a full 90 minutes.

“You don’t stop Messi, but can you limit his touches in key areas? Because when he’s in key areas around the box, he is lethal. He is unstoppable in some ways, so we just have to do it by committee,” Porter told reporters earlier in the week. “We’re not going to man-mark him. We have to do it by committee in the zones. He floats everywhere, so wherever he floats, be aware. Can we get guys around him and make it a game where he’s not where he wants to be?”

Initially, this strategy held, with Revolution defenders energetically trailing Messi in numbers all over the field, peppering the 36-year-old former Barcelona star with challenges and tackles.

Holding a lead against the likes of Messi amid a club-record crowd of 65,612 at Gillette Stadium, the surreal atmosphere bordered on a dreamlike state for Revolution players.

But in an instant — as has become a rueful refrain around world soccer from Manchester to Madrid, and now to Foxborough — the soccer deity woke up.

“It’s just different with Messi,” New England outside back Nick Lima succinctly summarized prior to kickoff.

In the blink of an eye in the 32nd minute, Messi showed why.

Starting from a standstill tucked inside the right wing, Messi jolted into action with a quickness that caught Revolution defenders off-guard. Positioning himself in between Lima and New England center back Henry Kessler, Messi received teammate Robert Taylor’s through ball with perfect control behind the defense, suctioning the ball to his left foot.

His finish into the near side of the goal was done with an almost routine nonchalance.

Despite having worked furiously to hold Messi and Inter Miami at bay, tirelessly chasing, marking, and defending with intensity for every moment leading up to that point, the Revolution squandered the early lead in seconds.

“I thought in the first half after [Chancalay’s] goal, we had them locked up pretty good,” Porter said postgame. “They weren’t getting many chances. They weren’t finding a lot of time and space to operate. Then Messi did what he does, and he found a crack.”

The slightest of cracks was all the Argentine needed to shred the Revolution’s assiduously constructed game plan.

In the second half, with New England still fighting intensely to keep the game tied, Messi found another crack. Yet again, he caught Revolution defenders by surprise, going from a standstill to full speed in a flash. Working in a well-rehearsed partnership with longtime Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets, Messi timed his run to somehow remain onside and once again latched onto the midfielder’s pass behind New England’s defense.

Revolution center-back Xavier Arreaga, making his first start for the club after arriving from Seattle in a trade on Tuesday, could only marvel at the world class talents he was playing against.

“That kind of player, that’s why he’s the best, because he can find the space that I think no other player can find,” Arreaga said. “Obviously they also have a good player like Busquets, they know the perfect [pass] between them. It was hard because I think the first 35 minutes, we did a great job trying to block most of the passes for Messi, but at the end of the day, we couldn’t do that and he scored.”

By the final whistle, Messi — after starting slowly and having spent much of his night moving at a literal walking pace — finished with two goals and a direct assist to forward Luis Suárez. (He was later credited with a second assist as Miami midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi scored on his rebounded shot in the 83rd minute.)

It was a lesson in defensive discipline for the Revolution. They had, as Porter noted, been “lulled in” by Messi’s often slow tempo. Despite thwarting him for more than 90 percent of the game, he found multiple goals in the fractions of a second when New England lost concentration.

“You need to be focused for 90 minutes,” New England captain Carles Gil said. “If you only last 45 minutes, [Messi] scores two goals and one assist. He’s focused for 90 minutes.”

Shaking his head in both disappointment and disbelief, Gil could only lament a simple fact which Messi opponents have grappled with for years.

“He’s the best in the world.”