Balerdi scores own goal and receives worst rating in Argentina's first match without Messi

Leonardo Balerdi had a night to forget with Argentina in the early hours of Saturday: the 27-year-old defender scored an own goal during the 1-2 defeat to Uruguay, Argentina’s first match since Lionel Messi’s international retirement.

While partnered in central defence with Lisandro Martinez, Balerdi inadvertently opened the scoring by deflecting a clearance from his teammate. Argentina failed to turn the match around and suffered defeat.

Argentine media outlet TycSports gave him a 4/10 rating, the worst among Argentina’s starting players. “He started the match well, alert to crosses, anticipation and first passes. But as the minutes went on, he began to lose the ball and Darwin Núñez quickly put him in difficulty. He was very weak in duels and lost confidence as the match progressed. To top it all off, he scored an own goal. A disappointing performance,” the specialist site summarized.

This poor performance comes at a difficult time for the AS Roma player. After a notable brace on the pitch in Naples during a 3-3 draw, Balerdi had spent two matches on the bench in Serie A before enduring a difficult evening in the Ligue des Champions at Manchester, where a costly error led to the Red Devils’ equalizer in a 3-2 defeat.

The Argentine defender, former Olympique de Marseille player, will need to quickly bounce back to regain the confidence of his club and national team coaches.