The Time Leo Messi Controlled The Ball From World Record Height With Ridiculous Ease

Watching Lionel Messi pull off the things that he's capable of doing is actually one of the most mind blowing things around and adding Japanese television into the mix for the Barcelona forward only makes things crazier.

Through a decade of Lionel Messi being at the top of the game we've almost come to expect the unexpected from the Barcelona forward and what should be incredible he's somehow made into the mundane.

In case you aren't quite sure what I mean the 31 year old scored a ridiculous 45 goals in 54 appearances for his club last season, the kind of figures almost no one gets near, yet he couldn't even get in the top three for The Best FIFA Men's Award.

If any other player on the planet, who wasn't Cristiano Ronaldo of course, put up those kind of numbers then we'd be lauding them for having the best season of their career. Messi on the other hand has six seasons in which he's scored more goals, just ludicrous.

It's not just his ability to score goals though it's also the assists, the runs, the control of the ball. Quite frankly there isn't much on the pitch he can't do, penalties are a weird weakness I guess.

Back in 2015 the Argentina forward proved just how silly his skills are on Japanese television by controlling a ball that dropped from 18m:

Honestly, there's some crazy things on Japanese TV but nothing is topping Messi doing that. No one else can casually just pluck a ball out of the air that's come from 18m.

Imagining Messi in anything other than a Barca shirt is weird. Image: PA Images

Things could have been very different for the Argentine superstar as he could have joined Espanyol on loan right at the beginning of his career at least according to Mauricio Pochettino:

"If you look back in history, maybe if he didn't play in the Joan Gamper [pre season friendly in 2005] that summer, maybe today he could have been the biggest star in Espanyol and Espanyol could be Barcelona.

"We would have been team-mates, and maybe I would have still been in Espanyol managing him." Pochettino said.

Topics: Football News, Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Champions League, Argentina, Spain, La Liga

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a writer for SPORTbible. He covers all sport from football, formula one, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics, mma and wrestling. He obviously hates YOUR football team and has no interest in synchronised swimming.

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