Former Atletico Madrid star reveals Simeone’s harsh nickname "dwarf" for Messi

Atletico Madrid found themselves on the receiving end of Lionel Messi’s talents throughout his Barcelona career.

Messi scored 32 goals against Diego Simeone’s side with Los Rojiblancos his second favourite opponent after Sevilla.

The threat of Messi was a constant concern for Simeone and his defenders as Atletico looked to hold off the Argentinian superstar.

Former Atletico defender Filipe Luis has given an insight into how Simeone used to plan for facing Messi with the ex-Brazilian international often the direct marker.

Luis insists stopping Messi was always a priority and his Argentinian compatriot Simeone even created a nickname for him.

“At Atleti, Simeone put four players on Messi! So when he scored, it was not one player’s fault, it was just Messi”, as per quotes from Marca.

“Before of the games against Barcelona, Simeone never used Messi’s name. He always called him ‘the dwarf’, so when we were in front of him, we would not be afraid of him.”

Simeone’s tactic against Messi did not yield the results he wanted as Barcelona also dominated alongside Messi’s personal goal tally.

Starting from December 2011, Simeone lost his first three La Liga games against Barcelona, with Messi scoring three goals, and his first league win against them came in 2020.