Ronaldinho could make his Liga MX debut against Puebla later today and to prepare for the prospect of facing the former World Player of the Year, the Puebla defenders have been training in wolf masks.

The idea came from eccentric Puebla manager Jose Luis Sanchez Sola, otherwise known as “Chelís”, who recently returned to the club after a four year absence that included a spell in MLS with Chivas USA.

The ruse was intended to instill in the players that they need to fight for the ball like erm…a pack of wolves.

“It’s sending the message with an anchor, the anchor is the mask,” Chelis told the club’s website.

“To understand that every time you go to play a ball and anchors you in the idea, remember you’re a dog, I have to go for it, fight it, steal it and defend it.”

The idea for the wolf mask came from Chelis watching a video of a training session held by Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone.

“I was inspired by a video I saw of a training session by Simeone but without the masks, I was struck by the intensity to get the ball,” said Chelis.

One suspects that the key to the Simeone session was that his players hunted in packs and not that they looked like wolves.