Andrija Maksimovic, known as the ‘Serbian Messi’, has vowed to show that he is ‘better’ than FC… [+] Barcelona star Lamine Yamal when his team Red Star Belgrade hosts the Catalan team in the Champions League on Wednesday.
DeFodi images via Getty Images
Andrija Maksimovic, known as “The Serb”. [Lionel] Messi has vowed to show he is “better” than Barcelona star Lamine Yamal when his Red Star Belgrade host the Catalans in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Like Lamine in Spain and abroad, Maksimovic is often compared to Messi in his homeland and acknowledged the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner’s influence during a pre-match press conference in Belgrade on Tuesday afternoon.
As Lamine often does, he tried to put the comparisons aside and said that although “Messi is my idol… I would like people to remember me as Andrea Maksimovic.”
Maksimovic was also born in 2007 and is therefore 17 years old like Barcelona right winger Lamine, who last week won the Copa France Football award for the best under-21 footballer.
He insisted that he was “not nervous” and was “happy to play against a big team like Barcelona.”
While he said that Lamine was a “great player”, whom he had already met in the past, the arrogant Maksimovic promised: “I will go out on the field to show that I am better than him.”
“There too [Pau] Coparsi. They are both my age. “I hope we can change shirts when the match is over,” Maksimovic added.
As for Red Star coach Vladan Milojevic, he is aware that his men will face one of the best and most brilliant teams in Europe in Barcelona.
Milojevic said in his press conference: “Barcelona rarely makes any mistakes, but we will do everything in our power to confront their game.”
“We are playing against the best team in Europe. They are a team that plays at the highest level in all phases of the game. They play with inspiration, enthusiasm and a lot of confidence. [Hansi] “Flick has succeeded in making this team believe in itself.”
And while, with all due respect, Red Star may have difficulty matching Flick’s stars in terms of quality, one major factor may be the hostile atmosphere at their home stadium known as the “Little Maracana” – a reference to Rio de Janeiro’s famous stadium.
Milojevic warned: “The atmosphere will be great. Barcelona always plays with full stadiums, but tomorrow you will see what our fans will be like.” “It’s up to us to show what we know and enjoy the atmosphere.”
