For many, the thought of coming up against the greatest of all time is enough to give you sleepless nights for weeks, if not months.
Chris Smalling, on the the hand, isn’t one of those people.
The England international will come up against Barcelona’s finest Lionel Messi in tomorrow night’s Champions League quarter final at Old Trafford and he can’t wait to come up against the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
You did read that correctly. Smalling admitted in Tuesday’s press conference alongside manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that he is “relishing the challenge” of facing arguably the greatest footballer of all time.
“It is a challenge I relish. Bring it on.” he told the media.
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer backed his player, saying Messi will be difficult to stop but “it’s never impossible.” to mark him out of the game on Wednesday night.
“He will be difficult to stop, but it’s never impossible,” he said.
“We can’t just focus on one player because there are 11 of them. Messi will without doubt be remembered as one of football’s greatest ever players.”
