Scott McTominay hailed as ‘new Lionel Messi’ as Scotland stun Spain

Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay earned himself comparisons to the likes of Lionel Messi on social media after scoring twice to help Scotland to a historic victory over Spain. The 26-year-old found the back of the net on two occasions either side of half-time to mark a famous win for the Scots, who are still unbeaten after two wins from as many games in qualifying for Euro 2024.

McTominay got Scotland off to a dream start after just seven minutes when he crashed the ball home following a deflection inside the box, with the hosts going on to ride their luck against the might of Spain until the interval. The United ace went on to repeat his earlier feat shortly after the restart to send Hampden Park into raptures and cap off an unplayable display for his country against top-level opposition.

His performance led many fans on Twitter to make lofty comparisons to Argentina hero Messi, with @agentmharris writing: “When you got the new Messi… anything is possible.”

“I’m taking this verison of McTominay over any version of Messi,” joked @freezesports1, while @SteD1981 added: “Who’d have thought McTominay would turn into prime Messi these last two games? Well done Scotland.”

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McTominay could not hide his beaming smile after the full-time whistle at Hampden Park but was far from the only Scotland player to put in an imperious showing against Spain, with the victory coming as a result of their collective efforts and discipline without the ball as well as taking their chances in front of goal despite having just 25 per cent of possession.

“We did really, really well,” said McTominay in his post-match interview with Viaplay. “We knew they’d have lots of the ball, and the manager said be clinical when we had the opportunities, and I thought we had enough opportunities tonight to really hurt them and score some goals.

“As a kid, I was an attacking midfielder. I like to get in the box. I’ve got to keep doing that, I know I can add more goals and assists to my game. Everyone was at it, diving around, making the game slow. It’s difficult, but sometimes that’s the way it’s got to be.

“When you’re winning you’ve got to do stuff like that. Look at this place, I’ve never seen anything like it, incredible. The manager said this is our chance to create legacies as Scotland players and these are the nights in 20, 30 years that people remember. We can’t thank the fans enough.”

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