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What's the story?
Diego Simeone is one of the most respected managers in world football. In a league traditionally dominated by ultra-rich clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona, Simeone led Atletico Madrid to the La Liga title in 2014, after having won the Europa League for the Los Colchoneros in 2012.
As reported by beIN Sports, the masterful Argentine tactician has given his two cents on Lionel Messi's stellar season, calling him 'extraordinary'.
In case you didn't know...
Diego Simeone is considered an Argentina legend, having marshalled their central defence right from 1988 to his retirement in 2002, and was part of the 1993 Copa America winning squad.
Lionel Messi's Barcelona is on an all-conquering rampage across competitions this season under master tactician Ernesto Valverde. They are runaway leaders in the La Liga, having a 9 point lead over rivals Atletico Madrid with just 6 matches to go.
The Blaugrana have also managed to reach the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) final where they will face Valencia in May. The sensational 3-0 mauling of Manchester United underscored their resurgence in the Champions League, having failed to progress past the quarter-finals in the previous three editions of the tournament.
The talismanic Messi has been in devastating form this season, even going by his lofty standard. The mercurial 'Messiah' has scored 45 goals in all competitions and contributed 15 assists and is leading both the La Liga and UEFA Champions League goalscoring charts.
The heart of the matter
In a recent interview, Simeone remarked that Messi is having an extraordinary season and when asked about his Argentina national team performances, opined that Messi was unnecessarity criticised by the Argentine press.
"I respect everything, everyone has an opinion. Messi was close to winning the World Cup [in 2014], he did not win it unfortunately," Simeone said "Some people criticise him constantly, but Messi is extraordinary, how many Ballons d'Or has he won, how many goals has he made? How many times has he managed to give Barcelona a certain way to play? Without him, it would not be the same."
The Atletico boss explained that it is a lack of supporting players that is causing Messi to underperform in the Albiceleste colours
"The criticism towards Messi is not fair, not at all, especially in Argentina, they all compare Messi - why in Barcelona yes and in Argentina not? It is not difficult to know why, it's easy, in Barcelona there are some players and a team that supports him and in Argentina there are no such players, as happens to Cristsiano Ronaldo in Portugal, because Portugal are not Juventus or Real Madrid. The teams strengthen the great player, it's easy."
What's next?
Barcelona face Liverpool over two legs in the Champions League semi-finals. In the other semifinal, Tottenham Hotspur face Dutch side AFC Ajax. In the La Liga, the Blaugrana take on Real Sociedad at home this Sunday.
