Argentina starting XI, Lionel Messi, Julián Álvarez and Nicolás González start

By
Roy Nemer
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Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni has named his starting XI for Thursday’s World Cup qualifier and Lionel Messi, Julián Álvarez and Nicolás González all start.

Lionel Scaloni is going with a front three of Messi, Álvarez and González against Uruguay in the World Cup qualifier. Here is the staritng eleven:

Emiliano Martínez; Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Nicolás Tagliafico; Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister; Nicolás González, Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez

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85 Comments

  2. Guys you are real fans. One defeat and everything vaporizes. I believe that Bielsa had a better game plan than Scaloni. Although I have been saying that Ota, Tag, Amani Pezzella and Montiel should not be in the team but one defeat doesn’t make us a bad team that needs to be rebuilt.

  3. Molina wtf…Otamendi is finished.
    Tagliafico deffended well though but 0 attack creativity.
    Dimaria & Messi even at 36 by far the best on the field…both of them.
    I do not want them to retire…lots of gas still in the tank.

    On another conforting note 7UP Vrazil is pathetic. Conceded 23 shots and 10 on goal. + Vinisius is injured. hope him a full recovery …but just after this comming Tuseday.

  4. People who regularly watch European futbal damn well know that Enzo , MacAllister, Depaul.. all three are going through a rough run of form. MacAllister has been limited to a Biglia role in Liverpool, Klopp is under no pressure to play MacAllister higher up because he cost almost nothing. Enzo has been playing below his standard at Chelsea, zero goals zero assist and he has stopped creating chances even now in his last few games. Depaul has been struggling at Atletico ever since he moved there and it was huge surprised how he performed at the world cup. Our midfield trio couldn’t string 3 passes together and Messi was heavily marked, he didn’t even have 1 mm of space whatsoever.
    Otamendi was totally exposed, he is aging and doesn’t have the legs to play against young and high pressing team like Uruguay. He wqs responsible for 2 goals conced against France. He needs to be a backup now, no more a starter.

    Our inform players also had bad game today, may be due to the 2 month gap and travel. Molina had a poor game, Alavrez was quite poor and Nico was okay but he struggled too. Scaloni is used to his team pressing the opponent but today he got taste of his own medicine and was schooled by the master Biesla. We not creating zero chances and zero shots on goal and target from open play ( except Dimaria’s wide shot) says how badly we were outplayed by the master. Biesla whenever he has a good team looks invincible like in 2002 WCQ campaign with Argentina and today.

    • Bielsa is a master, hence he won games when it not matter but lost when it mattered ( WC 2002 at group stage and CA 2004 final) . His Chile beat Colombia away for the first time in qualifier aswell, but lost to Brazil 3-0 at WC nevertheless.

      Scaloni’s team started Copa and WC with lackluster draw and a lost, but lifted the trophies.

      Bielsa is still just a nostalgia act until he eventually wins major silverware. We beat Uruguay under Bauza, does it mean Bauza is master tactician?

  5. I think messi only playing still cause cr7 is still scoring alot of goals.. messi needs to realize he is a world cup champion.. retire when u are on top.. let the rebuilding start now.. messi is not the problem don’t get me wrong.. but the old guards are old.. they not getting old they are old.. scaloni wastes his chances during Friendly’s so he’s paying the price now.. waiting till after copa to rebuild will be a costly mistake. Picking players who are out of form and leaving out in form players is not helping either..

    • We are not in a rebuilding phase. We are #1 in the world, leading qualifiers, and have been playing extremely well until this match. Only a few pieces have to be updated. Namely Otamendi and should look for a new left full back.

      The big problems today were our 2 young midfield stars, our lack of intensity, and possibly we should have gone with 4 in mid to match them as we did against Croatia.

      But I do think that Messi should not play a full 90 minutes.

  12. We could have played anybody in the forward – Dybala blah blah blah, the result won’t have been different. Uruguay played a pressing game. We didn’t. Otamendi was beaten on sprint by Nunez multiple times. Molina was outwitted by their forward. Julian and Nico did not play their natural pressing game. So the result is an apt result. My prediction is that we are witnessing the end of a dream run now. This team bondage, do-or-die attitude all these come to no use if you do not match the quality of players like Nunez, Valverde, Araujo. They completely outplayed us cutting of our heart which is Messi. This is not going to be different in upcoming matches. Bielsa has shown a template, which all other teams would follow. Most would succeed, some might not. But we are not progressing any more until Scaloni comes up with some key replacements and build up a solid plan B. Otamendi does not have a place in matches against youthful teams with sprinters like Nunez. Nico does not have a place in matches with quality defence like Araujo. Period.

  13. Now the honeymoon has ended. Time for Scaloni to start the rebuilding process. He’ll never defend the Copa if likes of Otamendi, Pezella and and Armani are going to be around. Bielsa exposed the reality. It’s time for Medina, Senesi or Licha to part with Cuti. In Midfield, RDP is dog but he can’t be a guaranteed starter. I’ll give my 5 cents on Messi later.

  15. We have this awful habit of trying to pass the ball into the goal instead of taking some fucking shots. Too reliant on Messi. This Otamendi needs to go. You can’t hang on to him. Enzo and MacAllister aren’t even running anymore.
    If you can’t control the midfield with 3 you better play with 4. No pace at all. And a little too much fucking celebrating and reliving World Cup moments and memories. These guys looked like they had never even seen each other before todays game.

  17. Correct me if I am wrong but we have had Zero shots on goal or target from open play? We have been outplayed in every aspect of the game! They are not giving Messi a cm of space! In hind sight Julian should have been replaced by Dybala ! Around 70min Otamendi running with the ball passed beyond the central line and there was nobody around to receive the pass and he had no idea what to do, move forward with the ball or pass it to someone who is no where near him to receive the ball. We were outplayed by Biesla Masterclass !

  32. Weakest link is Nico Gonzalez. Otamendi is ageing fast. He is having the same ordeal against Nunez as Roho had against Mbappe. Di Maria is badly needed. De Paul, Messi, Molina everyone is inaccurate today in front of precision pressing game of Uruguay. And they are also being physically tough. Would it be a wake up call or are we witnessing Scaloni going down the performance curve? This match is gone. The next match is quintessentially tougher for us. So disappointed to see Julian’s miss, the only chance we got. Messi’s free kick was nowhere close to even his worst.

  35. Never seen our defense and midfield play so badly since 2020 Copa! I am really interested in Scaloni’s half time subs, no way he will continue with the same eleven in the second half as well. Messi is being man-marked by multiple defenders every time we touch the ball. Time for GLC, LMQ and Lautaro to be subbed in.

    Molina’s poor defending skills is being exposed today! His lack of concentration was the reason behind Mbappe’s volley too! I am glad Uruguay is exposing all our weaknesses, it will force Scaloni to rethink his squad selection, starting lineup , formation and strategy! Looking forward to second half!!

  38. Truly surprised at how good Uruguay is. Guess that after the world cup since we dominated France I’ve been in a bubble watching us play against mediocre teams and gotten too used to the best in the world tag. You’re only the best as long as you maintain it, so this is good practice and a good wake-up call before Brazil. Hope we reorganize and do something about their pressing. Disappointed at the lack of precision in some of our passes so I hope the substitutions we make reflect that need if the starters don’t improve fast. I feel like Di Maria could be the ace we need.

  46. Both teams are playing rough as usual in S.America but I am glad that finally we are playing against a good and organized team, a team that is able to put pressure on our defense and not give any space to our forwards and even our world cup winning midfield is struggling to string 3 passes together! Their forwards are lacking the finishing otherwise we would ahve been couple goals down already! (min:35/firsthalf)