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Lionel Messi free kick foiled by Real Sociedad’s ingenious tactic

Archie Blade
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Lionel Messi free kick foiled by Real Sociedad’s ingenious tactic

Lionel Messi free kick foiled by Real Sociedad’s ingenious tactic in the La Liga clash against Barcelona on Saturday at the Camp Nou.

Lionel Messi is a nightmare when taking a free kick near the box. However, Real Sociedad may have discovered a way to thwart the Argentine genius as they employed a rather strange tactic in their match against Barcelona on Saturday night.

Also read: James Milner gave his Liverpool teammates a rallying cry ahead of their Bournemouth clash

Barcelona were awarded a free kick from about 25 yards out. The Barcelona captain stood up to the task. However, instead of facing a normal wall, Sociedad decided to place all their players inside the box. Three players formed a normal wall, four spread across the edge of the six-yard box, two stood either side of the goalkeeper on the goal line, and one marked the space near the penalty spot.

Lionel Messi free kick foiled by Real Sociedad’s ingenious tactic


Messi sent the ball in sweetly as ever. However, with the goal being heavily protected, it was headed way with ease by the defence.

Fortunately for Barcelona, they were handed a penalty in the 81st minute after VAR spotted a handball inside the area. Messi took the shot from the spot. This time however, there was no new tactic to stop him as he scored the winner to take his side atop the La Liga table.

They are now 2 points clear off Real Madrid who have a game on Sunday night. However, the talking point from the match will certainly be the tactic displayed on the night. It will be interesting to see if other teams also adopt the novelty approach in the future.

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About the author

Archie Blade

Archie Blade

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Archie is a WWE and UFC Editor/Author at the SportsRush. Like most combat sports enthusiasts, his passion for watching people fight began with WWE when he witnessed a young Brock Lesnar massacre Hulk Hogan back in 2002. This very passion soon branched out to boxing and mixed martial arts. Over the years he fell in love with the theatrics that preceded the bell and the poetic carnage that followed after. Each bruise a story to tell, each wound a song of struggle, his greatest desire is to be there to witness it all. His favorite wrestler is Shawn Michaels and he believes that GSP is the greatest to ever step foot inside the octagon. Apart from wrestling, he is also fond of poetry and music.

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