I don’t normally abuse my position as a writer at The18 to bring you solely what I would like to bring you — the golden rule for hacks like me is to give the people what the people want — except when it comes Xherdan Shaqiri.
“Give us Messi! Give us Ronaldo!” you clamor. OK, I will. That’ll keep the lights on. But I’m gonna sprinkle in some Xherdan Shaqiri spice every now and then just to keep you on your toes, and to remind you that there’s a lot of beauty in this world: tiny, almost microscopic, banging beauty.
That’s the Alpine Messi for you — very small, but very always scoring bangers. If he’s good enough for Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool, he’s good enough for you.