Lionel Messi has been branded a ‘diving c***’ and someone with ‘the wrong arrogance’ by a longtime Liverpool coach.
The Reds achieved one of their most historic nights in 2019 when they erased a 3-0 deficit vs. Messi’s Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal second leg, on their way to the final and an eventual win vs. Spurs.
And former Liverpool goalkeepers coach John Achterberg, who was at the club from 2009-24, has recalled what he thought of the Argentine during that European tie.
‘…When we played him I thought he was a diving c***,’ he said on The Football Historian Podcast (via Anfield Watch), after saying he’d take Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo due to the former’s ‘crazy magic.’
Achterberg added that he didn’t like the ‘f***ing diving’ from the former Barca No. 10 – and was thrilled when Andy Robertson met him with a tough challenge at one point.
Lionel Messi controls the ball near Colombia’s Jhon Arias during the Copa America final
John Achterberg, who spent 15 years at Liverpool, is seen with Jurgen Klopp in 2022
‘I liked it when we played him and Robbo smashed him so I thought: ‘F***ing do him, c***!”, Achterberg said.
Of course, after Messi scored twice in the first leg, Liverpool earned a sensational 4-0 win behind Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum braces.
Achterberg left the club in May and joined Saudi club Al Ettifaq – managed by Steven Gerrard – shortly after.
Messi, meanwhile, now plays for Inter Miami and led his native Argentina to another Copa America triumph this summer.
Messi reacts after Barca’s 4-0 loss to Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League semifinal second leg
The 37-year-old was displeased on Wednesday following a highly-chaotic end to Argentina’s Olympic men’s soccer match.
He called the loss to Morocco – which came after an equalizer was ruled offside more than an hour after it found the net – ‘unbelievable.’
He is not participating in the tournament himself.