Lionel Messi Scores Another Glorious Free-Kick For Barcelona

Messi's efficiency from dead-ball situations continues to be next level, with his ability so ridiculous that you pretty much know what the outcome is going to be as soon as Barca get a free-kick.

In recent times, opposition teams have started putting players on the line to combat Messi's free-kicks - which is the ultimate compliment to just how good he is at finding the net.

Comfortably the best free-kick taker in world football today, Messi's highly successful "ankle-spraining" technique is especially interesting - with Dr Rajpal Brar having some serious insight into Messi's totally unique way of striking the ball.

"When Messi strikes the ball, he shifts his hip to the right. He really moves his hips to the right as he's striking to open up his left strike leg," the doctor told the Squawka podcast.

"And what that does on his plant leg is that it shifts all the weight to the outside of the foot. So then when he follows through and he's striking the ball - that left leg coming from left to right - now everything is going onto the outside of his ankle almost like what happens when you sprain your ankle.

"We call it 'inversion sprain' when it twists inwards - it's that same force. You have all that force on the outside of your ankle and it twists inwards. But in Messi's case, he's trained himself and his body to control that motion."

Just look at where his standing foot is as he hits the ball. If your average Joe tried it then they'd likely be in a lot of agony very quickly but of course average and Lionel Messi do not appear in the same sentence.