Argentina find themselves in a far from enviable position, with their coach effectively powerless, but one which is a huge improvement upon last week
Poor Jorge Sampaoli. It looks to all the world that Argentina are through to the World Cup knock-outs despite their forlorn coach, who is now taking orders from his own players.
“This team is more Messi’s than mine,” said Sampaoli back in March. He was talking about Messi’s ability to get the best out of his team-mates, but now, three games into a chaotic campaign in Russia, we may as well think about Argentina’s No.