The next round of the Champions League isn’t starting till February, but there’s already plenty of discussion about the games that are coming up.
The draw has generated a few really tasty fixtures, not least of which is a rematch of one of the last decade’s big grudge games: Chelsea – Barcelona.
In Spain they’re excited for the game already, and it was discussed on flagship radio football show El Transistor.
.@Sergio_Santome "Kanté tiene un papel fundamental en la eliminatoria frente al Barcelona, puede hacerle un marcaje al hombre a Messi" pic.twitter.com/FPQWudvvjh
— Radioestadio Noche (@RadioestadioN) December 11, 2017
There they discussed an interesting tactical idea that Antonio Conte may deploy: manmarking Leo Messi with N’Golo Kante.
Messi hasn’t ever scored against Chelsea, and he is playing deeper than ever in this current Barcelona system. Rather than facing up against the Blue defenders, he is actually likely to be coming up against Kante regularly.
Whether he will actually be assigned to man mark him remains to be seen.