What was it really like trying to stop Lionel Messi at his peak?

After Messi announced his retirement from International football, Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs revisit their battles with the Argentine icon, including Manchester United’s painful Champions League final defeat to Barcelona at Wembley.

Giggs reveals what happened when he tried to leave an early mark on Messi, while Rio explains how Messi’s movement, intelligence and explosive acceleration made him almost impossible to contain.

They also discuss the genius of Messi walking into spaces, the strength people underestimated and why that legendary Barcelona side reached another level whenever he had the ball.

Rio reveals what he said in a conversation about Messi on the Wembley pitch with Giggs and teammate Paul Scholes and asks if there’s anything that could have been done differently to curtail Messi’s influence on the “best” team either of them had faced in their career.

This is The Debrief: honest insight into the game from two players who experienced football’s biggest moments firsthand.

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