6) Pablo Maffeo
It’s not often that you hear Lionel Messi praise defenders given the ease at which he beats most of them on the football field. However, the same cannot be said about Pablo Maffeo who publicly earned the praise of the Argentine after he successfully kept the six time ballon d’or winner at bay on many occasions.
5) Julio Cesar
Julio Cesar is undoubtedly the toughest goalkeeper Lionel Messi has ever faced in his career. The Argentine came up against the legendary goalkeeper on numerous occasions for both club and country. However, Cesar always seem to get the better of the Argentine who somehow never managed to score past the Brazilian goalkeeper, not even once.
4) Diego Godin
Another player who made life difficult for Lionel Messi at a certain point in his career is none other than former Atletico Madrid defender Diego Godin.
Godin and Messi were always in a sort of duel during their time in the Spanish La liga with the Argentine attacker often finding the Uruguayan centreback a very tough nut to crack.
3) Sergio Ramos
While Sergio Ramos and Lionel Messi now play for the same team(PSG), it is difficult for one to forget the numerous duels and battles that both players subjected themselves to during their time at Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
The battle between this two was something else.
2) Gary Medel
Gary Medel is probably the toughest defensive midfielder Lionel Messi has faced in his career with the constant duel between both South American players on the international scene have been well documented down the years.
Gary Medel always seem to get the better of the Argentine forward who was always on the receiving end of one or two nasty tackles from the Chilean.
1) Kepler Pepe
No 1 on our list is none other than Portuguese defender Kepler Pepe. The battle for supremacy during Pepe and Messi’s time at Real Madrid and Barcelona was one that always kept football fans glued to the screen during the Spanish El Clasico’s.
The Portuguese defender seemed to have a personal distaste for the Argentine attacker and he always showed it on the pitch with Lionel Messi almost certain to be the victim of numerous brutal tackles from the no-nonsense centreback.
Source:Operanewsapp.com