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Watch: Slavia Praha defender’s celebration after tackling Lionel Messi is priceless

Archie Blade
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PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC – OCTOBER 23: David Hovorka (background) of Slavia Praha is challenged by Lionel Messi of Barcelona during the UEFA Champions League group F match between Slavia Praha and FC Barcelona at Sinobo Stadium on October 23, 2019 in Prague, Czech Republic. (Photo by Thomas Eisenhuth/Getty Images)

Watch: Slavia Praha defender’s celebration after tackling Lionel Messi is priceless. This just proves how rare it is to defend against the Argentine.

Lionel Messi has long terrorised defenders around the world. The Argentina and Barcelona captain has made a mockery of the defences across teams to notch up records and awards season after season for both club and country.

Also read: Lionel Messi breaks yet another record after the Champions League vs Slavia Praha

His 3 consecutive Golden Boots is testament to his goal scoring prowess and the Argentine was at it again in Barcelona’s Champions League encounter vs Slavia Praha. Messi scored Barcelona’s opening goal in the 3rd minute of the match itself.

However, things went south for the La Liga champions from there as the team struggled to break down Slavia Praha’s defence while their attackers ran circles around the Champions League contenders. Slavia had an astonishing 24 shots with 9 of them on target!

Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona on the Ground during the match between Slavia Praha and FC Barcelona. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images)

Jan Boril scored their 50th minute equaliser and it seemed like Barcelona could even leave the Sinobo Stadium without a point. However, an unfortunate own goal by Peter Olayinka 7 minutes later gave the advantage back to Barcelona.

Watch: Slavia Praha defender’s celebration after tackling Lionel Messi is priceless

Barcelona would eventually win the match but Slavia Praha tried until the very end and stretched the Spanish champions thin. The Czech side played the entire match with immense intensity perfectly displayed by their defender David Hovorka.

The 26-year old defender kept pace with the Argentine and successfully tackled him as he looked to get into the box. Hovorka then immediately stood up and roared at Messi as the ball went out of play.

Slavia Prague’s Hovorka celebrating a successful tackle on Messi from soccer

Lionel Messi had a chance in the 74th minute to add to his 3rd minute opener. However, he missed an incredible opportunity to hand Barcelona a 3-1 lead. Regardless, Barcelona still walk out victorious and will hope for an improved performance in the return leg.

Slavia Praha on the other hand, can give themselves a pat in the back for the phenomenal performance when no one gave them half a chance.

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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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