The midfield maestro explains how the Selecao will hope to marginalise the five-time world player of the year in Thursday's Superclasico in Belo Horizonte

Brazil midfielder Renato Augusto has revealed how he and his midfield colleagues plan to stop Lionel Messi in Thursday’s Superclasico.

The Selecao host the ‘hermanos’ in World Cup qualifying at the Minerao in Belo Horizonte and come 

into the tie as hot favourites after four consecutive victories have seen them leap to the top of the 

Conmebol table after 10 matches.

Argentina, meanwhile, have dropped out of the qualification slots after a poor run of form, but their 

chances could well rest on their ability to cope with five-time World Player of the Year Messi.

"I think first you have to reduce the space of all the players, not only Messi, and then when he 

receives the ball, just block the angles of his passes,” Renato Augusto told reporters after Monday’s 

training session in Belo Horizonte. 

“This is something we worked on a lot with Neymar. So, the goal is to, as much as we can, try to 

minimalise his chances to shoot or pass to team-mates.

“At times like this, we will all have to work to help one another. In those moments, sometimes 

Gabriel 

Jesus may have to run a little more. Anyone who is playing free will have to run that little bit extra in 

order to facilitate the defensive side of the team.”

Five-time world champions Brazil arrive as hot favourites after their sudden upturn in form under 

new 

coach Tite, but Renato Augusto has warned form means little in Superclasicos.

“If we had faced Argentina in Tite's first game, it would be different because the team would still be 

finding a pattern. 

“Of course, today we already have a very well defined tactical plan, coming off a sequence of 

victories. So, that creates expectations from the supporters, which can be a bad thing, because the 

fans believe only victories will come, that there could even be a thrashing. But it’s not like that, every 

game has its own story."