A nine-minute compilation of Lionel Messi being 'the best dribbler of all time' is footballing perfection

Lionel Messi's dribbling ability is a thing of beauty and so someone decide to bless us with nine minutes of the Argentine wizard destroying opponents.

The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner does not showboat with flashy skill moves like step-overs, elasticos and rainbow flicks.

Instead, he relies on a combination of balance, ridiculously quick feet and a special knack of being able to change direction.

Few can deny that Messi is the best dribbler in the world and for opposition players it must be an absolute nightmare having to defend against them.

Croatia's Josko Gvardiol was one of the top defenders in the World Cup and he was absolutely rinsed by Messi in the semi-final despite not overcommitting himself.

He is one of Messi's many victims in the lengthy compilation created by @FutbolJan10 on Twitter and titled, 'Leo Messi • The best dribbler of all time'.

It features a series of clips whereby Messi toyed with defenders aplenty playing for Argentina, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.

Even in the tightest of spaces and under pressure, Messi's innate close control means he easily weaves his way out of it.

It's the drop of the shoulder that always does the damage for Messi, who leaves world-class players questioning their career choices.

The feints and shimmies might not get him on Soccer AM but Messi is utterly mesmeric with the ball at his feet and makes it all look very ordinary.

He's been doing it since he broke into the Barca side as a 17-year-old and continued to leave jaws dropping during his sensational World Cup tournament.

The goals against Athletic Bilbao and Bayern Munich respectively, highlighted in the video, are just two of the very best examples of Messi causing utter havoc with the ball at his feet.

But being honest, you probably could have made a two-hour compilation of Messi strutting his stuff.

How does he do it though? What are the keys to his dribbling success? Messi himself explained his secrets a few years back in a dribbling tutorial.

"I try to trick the defender and find where the space is to escape from him," Messi said.

"To unbalance a defender is more about bringing him with you, then feint and move sideways.

"When he is unbalanced, that is the time to escape. Generally when I play forward and out wide, the defenders approach side on and I am looking for the moment when the defender stretches his leg and I am able to beat him."