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

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 3^rd 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!

Jan Boril scored their 50^th 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
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Lionel Messi had a chance in the 74^th minute to add to his 3^rd 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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