England have previous when it comes to stopping the best players on planet football. It generally ends badly.
When Diego Maradona was single-handedly (no pun intended) dragging Argentina through the knockout stages of the 1986 World Cup, England were powerless to stop him.
Preventing Ronaldinho proved beyond them in 2002. In 2006 they were undone by a winking Cristiano Ronaldo.
And last time out in Qatar, Gareth Southgate’s side were so fixated on dealing with Kylian Mbappe that Antoine Griezmann ran riot and put the ball on a plate for Olivier Giroud to score the winner.
Now, another great, one born in Leeds and polished in Manchester, stands between Thomas Tuchel’s side and just a third World Cup semi-final in 36 years.
