Watch: Lionel Messi and his magic on the training ground
When he's not busy tormenting opposition defences, the Barcelona magician decides to perfect his tricks at the training ground.
All great footballers require intensive training. And when Barcelona magician Lionel Messi is not busy tormenting defences week in week out in European football, he turns to the training ground to perfect those jaw-dropping moves that we’ve all become used to seeing.
The latest from his battle of tricks came just when Barcelona were training in Japan in preparation of the Club World Cup. As usual, when it comes to Messi, the bar has been set so high that it's fruitless to try and even describe it, just watch the video above and marvel at Messi's mastery yourself. Keep an eye on where the goalposts are (spoiler: they're not even in the frame at the start).
The beautiful thing about the Internet is that we can actually trace Messi’s incredible journey through childhood to adulthood. There are a number of videos which showcase the skills of a young Lionel Messi, offering peek into the sheer amount of raw talent he possessed even as a child. Here’s one of a ten year-old-Messi providing early warning of how he would make goalkeepers and defenders miserable.
