Rio Ferdinand says Sir Alex Ferguson would have had Lionel Messi man-marked if he could replay games

Rio Ferdinand has said that if Manchester United could have replayed their Champions League final losses at the hands of Barcelona - Sir Alex Ferguson would have had Lionel Messi man-marked.

Ferguson's United were up against Pep Guardiola's Barcelona in both the 2009 and 2011 Champions League Finals and lost both times.

On both occasions, Messi stole the show - scoring in each game and wowing everyone watching.

Speaking whilst on punditry duty for the BBC, Ferdinand explained that his boss may have done things differently if he could turn back time.

Ferdinand said: 'We played two big games against Messi. Sir Alex suggested he would have gone man to man if we went back and played those games again.'

However, the United legend admitted the same results could have happened again - even with the changes.

The 44-year-old continued: 'But he will get chances even if you go man to man.'

In the 2009 Final, Messi showed his incredible skillset by managing to score a brilliant, unexpected header - this might suggest that even if Messi was man-marked he could have still popped up with a surprise.

The 2011 Final saw a much more typical Messi goal when he fired home a left-footed strike from outside the area with no Manchester United player getting near him.

Messi is currently playing in what is likely to be his last shot at winning the World Cup before he retires from football.

It is the one accolade Messi is missing from his illustrious football career and he will have to be at his best to give Argentina any chance of taking home the trophy.

Argentina have not been at their best throughout the tournament in Qatar but will be looking to turn things around during the business end of the World Cup.