A Previously Unseen Compilation Of Lionel Messi During His Time In Barcelona's Youth Academy

Barcelona have released some never-before-seen footage of Lionel Messi playing for the club's youth side, and it's only strengthened his case for being considered the greatest of all time.

Messi burst on the scene in 2004, as the Argentina international made his Barcelona debut against local rivals Espanyol.

Image: PA

And as the world now recognises Messi amongst the likes of football royalty in Pele and Diego Maradona, it's easy to forget the hard work the 29-year-old put in while plying his trade in the club's La Masia academy.

Thankfully, Barcelona have reminded us today of exactly what Messi could do when he was just 16, with footage which the club claims has never seen the light of day... until now:

Since graduating from the club's fabled youth set-up, Messi has written his name into the history books at Barcelona, becoming the club's all-time leading goalscorer in 2012.

Messi has also picked up five FIFA Ballons d'Ors, eight La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies.

Not bad from the scrawny kid who was wearing the oversized shirt in that video, eh?

Barcelona legend Xavi recalled being "blown away" by a 16-year-old Lionel Messi during his first training session for the Catalan giants.

In an interview with Spanish publication AS, the former Barca midfielder spoke about the five time Ballon d'Or winner with admiration, going back to a time when he "couldn't believe his eyes" when Messi went one-on-one against Lillian Thuram and Carles Puyol.

They may have been the best defenders in world football at the time, but Xavi claims that the little Argentinian had no fear, taking the pair on in his first session:

"They'd already told me about this kid, I'd been warned that there was this young Argentinean kid coming through who was very good." Xavi said.

"They'd even mentioned his name but I'd forgotten. But then, when I saw him in training aged just 16 I could see exactly what they were on about. There was a training drill we used to do in which players are one-on-one against [Lillian] Thuram, and [Carles] Puyol

"I saw Messi take on those two and couldn't believe my eyes. I thought: 'Blimey, here this kid who's only 16 years old, dodging past professional defenders, internationals. Even then you could tell that he was different. It's obvious that he has an innate talent when he is one-against-one, he's fast, he scores goals, he passes, shoots. He's amazing"

Former Barcelona midfielder Xavi also revealed what pisses Messi off the most during an interview via Spanish outlet SPORT.

"Barcelona and the Argentine national team cannot afford to allow 10 minutes to pass in a game without Leo Messi touching the ball. Leo Messi has to be involved in the game. He has to be where things are happening, where the ball is. In addition, he's going to get pissed off.

"If he doesn't touch the ball for five minutes, you have to bring him to where the ball is. He has to participate in the play,"

This story was first featured on talkingbaws.com - simple, shareable sport. Like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Topics: Football News, Football, Barcelona, Lionel Messi

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_