Lionel Messi is just showing off now.

Not only does he hold a record eight Ballon d’Or awards, four Champions Leagues and a World Cup winners medal but now fans have learned about another trick up his sleeve.

Messi broke through the ranks at Barcelona in 2004 and went on to become one of the greatest to ever play the game

Known for his incredible speed, skill and dribbling ability coupled with an insatiable appetite for scoring goals, Messi is for many, the greatest to ever do it.

The Argentine is best remembered for his time at Barcelona where he netted an incredible 672 goals in 778 games after graduating from the club’s famed La Masia academy.

It was there he spent eight years playing alongside compatriot Javier Mascherano, winning five La Liga titles together.

But according to the ex-Liverpool star, Messi was somewhat surprisingly a dab hand in the art of defending.

The pint-sized wizard would often cause headaches for his Barca teammates in training when tasked with defending his own box and Mascherano lifted the lid on what it was like to see Messi in the unlikely role.

“If Messi was going to be a defender, maybe he would be one of the best defenders in the world,” Mascherano told Shoot For Love.

“It’s impossible to dribble past him. Sometimes at Barcelona we would play 1v1 and it was impossible to get past him.

“There was no chance against him,” he added. “Sometimes with attackers they know how to defend.

“Leo was very good at defending. He was very quick and when you tried to dribble against him it was impossible.”

Mascherano, who is now head coach of Argentina’s Under-20 side, spent four years in English football with West Ham, and later Liverpool.

Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano were teammates at International and club level

Messi picked up a record-extending eighth Ballon d’Or award last Octobergetty images

In 2010, and in the height of Messi’s powers, Mascherano joined his fellow countryman at the Camp Nou for a fee of £20million.

He went on to lift two Champions League titles during his time at the club, the first seeing Barca beat Manchester United in the final at Wembley in 2011.

Mascherano, like most fans, was familiar with Messi’s worldly skill set from their time together at international level but there were moments away from the cameras that left him stunned by his teammates’ ability.

“At Barcelona we played a short tournament in a training session with three teams,” Mascherano recalled. 

“Five wins and you are the champion. He decided to finish training early so he scored five goals to make a team win and training is finished!”