We’re going to go ahead and file this under the “Shots Fired” category. Manuel Neuer is not messing around, and that is absolutely great news, because we are hoping for nothing less than greatness as his Bayern Munich take on Barcelona in the Champions League.
Manuel Neuer has targeted Barca’s best player in a pregame interview, saying that his side needs to show Lionel Messi “who’s boss.”
"I have a lot of respect for Messi and for everything that he has achieved. He is very humble," Neuer told L'Equipe.
"But it's crucial to show authority when we meet on the pitch and show him who's boss. I did the same in the World Cup final and this worked out pretty well.”
This is about as close as we’ll ever get to hearing Neuer say something along the lines of, “What’s that? Who is the best in the world? I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over my World Cup win.” Neuer went on to echo his teammate Medhi Benatia’s words from the previous few days.
"We will be looking to do the same on Wednesday night. It is vital to obtain a position of dominance and instill respect.
"We have to make good use of our physical presence, our character and show a certain ruthlessness."
Of course, Neuer being Neuer, he qualified his statements with some very reasonable words on Barcelona and the task ahead of him and his teammates.
"We dominated Barcelona in both legs in the semi-finals two years ago, but the situation has changed.
"This time, they have no injuries and Messi is back to his best, while we are missing several key players.”
"We know that we face a tough task, but I am confident we will get our chances."
That’s not exactly dropping the mic, but Neuer is the kind of guy to let his game do the talking. Needless to say, we can’t wait to see what it has to say on the field when Bayern finally plays Barcelona.
