Klopp also had superlatives for Messi. The Argentinian shone in the 2-0 victory against Austria and amazed Klopp – especially with his highly efficient style of play. “I saw Lionel Messi live, and when you watch the game and see that he covers eight kilometers, you think: We’ve found the optimal distance. That’s eight kilometers because then he’s really there in the decisive moment. But of course, that’s not possible for everyone. Imagine if everyone only ran eight kilometers,” Klopp said.
For Klopp, Messi’s “walking” apparent is actually the highest level of tactical precision. “But it’s extraordinary to watch him, it’s really crazy. People would say he’s walking. I say: He’s scanning the pitch. I looked at him so often, even when the ball was somewhere else. I just wanted to see what he was doing. I think he’s measuring distances. He knows exactly, now I’m here, now I’m going to position myself on the right, now I’m going to be in the center,” he added.
“The game against Austria wasn’t his for a long time, but then in those moments: He scores the first goal because he can. He scores the second goal because he wants to. And then he misses a penalty, so he would have had six goals after two games. That makes it sound like one World Cup is nothing. Zlatan Ibrahimovic said that Messi has five goals in one World Cup, and he himself has zero in two World Cups. It’s that simple.”
