Dani Alves recalled an incredible story of how Lionel Messi destroyed everyone in a Barcelona training session while his boots were untied.
The 36-year-old Brazilian right-back spent eight years at the Camp Nou and watched the Barcelona superstar, 32, pull off some fantastic moments of magic in training.
And Alves, who now plays for Brazilian side Sao Paulo, said in The Players' Tribune in 2017 that Messi tore apart Barcelona's defenders with the laces on both of his boots untied.
"I remember during one training session, Messi was doing things with the ball at his feet that defied logic," the ex-Paris Saint-Germain defender wrote.
"Of course, that is what he did every day.
"Only this time, something was different. Now, I need to remind you, this was an extremely intense training session. We were not messing around.
"Messi was dribbling through the defence and finishing like a killer. And then as he's running past me, I look down at his boots, and I'm thinking to myself, 'Is this a joke?'
"He comes running past again, and I think, 'No, it's impossible.'
"He comes running past again, and now I'm sure what I'm seeing. His damn boots are untied. Both of them. I mean completely untied.
"This guy is playing against the best defenders in the world, just floating around the pitch, and he's acting like it's a Sunday in the park.
"That was the moment when I knew that I was never going to play with someone like him ever again in my life."
Messi, who picked up an injury in Barcelona's 2-1 win over Villarreal on Tuesday, took home the Best FIFA Men's Player at the Best FIFA Football Awards on Monday.
Fellow FIFA Men's Player nominee Virgil van Dijk admitted that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner deserved to win the award.
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