'I wasn't going to let him torture us again': Sir Alex Ferguson's plan to stop Lionel Messi revealed

What's the story?

As Manchester United are preparing to face Barcelona in the Champions League Quarter-Finals, a tactical plan to stop Argentine ace Lionel Messi, plotted by Sir Alex Ferguson himself, has surfaced online.

The plan, which was extracted from the former United manager's autobiography, reveals intricate details into the tactics the club should use to stop the Barcelona star should United face the Catalan giants again.

In case you didn't know...

Ferguson's formidable United side went head-to-head with Barcelona in the Champions League final in 2009 and 2011 but could not win over the La Liga giants on both occasions.

The defeats prompted the legendary manager to come up with a plan that would stop Messi from wreaking havoc on the Red Devils once again.

Fast forward a few years and Manchester United are once again set to face the Spanish champions in the Champions League, but this time in a quarter final fixture.

The heart of the matter

The plan, should United face Barcelona again, details the role of centrebacks in stopping Messi. Ferguson writes (via Manchester Evening News), "To beat Barcelona in that cycle you needed centrebacks who could be really positive. Rio and Vidic were at an age where their preference was to defend the space. Nothing wrong with that. Quite correct. But, against Barcelona, it's a limited approach."

"You need centrebacks who are prepared to drop right on top of [Lionel] Messi and not worry about what is happening behind them. Ok, he'll drift away to the side. That's fine. He's less of a threat on the side than he is through the centre."

"After the inquest I told myself: 'When we play Barcelona next time in a Champions League final, I would have Jones and Smalling, or Smalling and Evans, right on top of Messi.' I wasn't going to let him torture us again."