'Something beautiful' - Alexis Mac Allister reveals the 'details' that make Lionel Messi so admired by Argentina players

• Mac Allister has returned from international duty
• Reveals why he players admire Messi
• Impressed by small details

WHAT HAPPENED? Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has lifted the lid on the 'details' that he and his Argentinian team-mates admire about former Barcelona star Lionel Messi, following their recent reunion on international duty.

WHAT THEY SAID: "There are many of us kids, that it is a generation that grew up watching him play. I think that's a bit of the key: admiration from the outside and then once you're close it's admiration for who he is as a person, for the tranquility he transmits, for the small details he has as a leader," he told La Nacion.

"For example, being a world champion, knowing that perhaps he could not play in Bolivia, he traveled to the heights, when he had his son's birthday and he was with us. It's not something minor, they are details that make it even bigger.

"Maybe people aren't very interested, I don't know, but for us it's the most that he wants to support us. I don't like to talk a lot about the past, but it has been seen that Leo suffered a lot when it wasn't his turn to win, so that he can win with us today is an incredible joy. That is something that I feel we will only be able to measure in many years. We played with the best in the world and we won with him."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Mac Allister has become a key figure in the Argentinian national team, where he played a major role inLa Albiceleste securing their third World Cup in Qatar last December. Mac Allister, who was still a Brighton and Hove Albion player at the time, scored one goal and provided one assist on the way to securing the title.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? Messi has now returned to Inter Miami but Tata Martino has admitted he's unsure if the Argentina international will be fit for the team's next game against Toronto.