The Real Madrid star has faced Lionel Messi several times during the Argentine’s legendary spell at Barcelona.
Federico Valverde has admitted he “doesn’t know” how to stop Lionel Messi ahead of Uruguay’s upcoming World Cup qualifier against Argentina.
Uruguay shocked Brazil with a brilliant 2-0 victory in October, reaching the second spot in CONMEBOL’s qualifying tournament for the 2026 World Cup.
It’s now time for Valverde and co to take on the World Champions, who are leading the group with four victories from four matches.
As always, controlling Messi will be a crucial task for the opposition midfielders and defenders. But Valverde admits the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner could be “very difficult” to deal with.
Speaking in a pre-match press conference, he said: “I don’t know how to stop Messi, I’ve never been able to stop him.
“I played a lot of matches against him when he was at Barcelona and Casemiro was always a weapon against Messi. You have to respect him because he is one of the best players in the world. It will be very difficult, we know the class of Argentina, of Messi, and everything they have achieved.”
Following their match against Argentina, Marcelo Bielsa’s men will take on Bolivia in their next World Cup qualifier on November 22.
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