Lionel Messi humbles Royston Drenthe for trying fancy skills against him in 2010: Watch

Lionel Messi is widely regarded as the greatest player to ever grace the football filed. But more often than not, the Barcelona star keeps away from on-field rivalries. However, on a rare occasion, the Argentinian superstar opted to show his opponent, Royston Drenthe why a lot of players haven't tried fancy tricks with the ball while Lionel Messi is lurking. Incidentally, Royston Drenthe's Hercules team registered a shock 2-0 win against Blaugrana at the Camp Nou in 2010 following the full-time whistle. 

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Lionel Messi skills against Royston Drenthe

Barcelona welcomed newly-promoted side Hercules during a LaLiga encounter at the Camp Nou in 2010 and the visiting side had an enemy in their ranks. Royston Drenthe, on loan from Real Madrid at the time, tried a few stepovers with the ball at his feet but stumbled while performing his trick. Unfortunately for Royston Drenthe, Lionel Messi was lurking and picked up the loose ball. What happened next left Drenthe stunned as the Barcelona attacker left the Dutchman in the dust with some lightning-fast and silky footwork.

The close control was phenomenal from Lionel Messi as he ran forward with the ball and elegantly skipped past a few more defenders in the process. 

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Lionel Messi skills: Lionel Messi racist chants caused altercation between players

According to reports from Marca, Royston Drenthe and Lionel Messi had initially got into a slight altercation during the game. Ironically, Royston Drenthe had the final laugh at the full-time whistle as Hercules recorded a sensational 2-0 win against Barcelona. A few years later, in 2012, Drenthe claimed that the Lionel Messi racist chants towards him were the prime reason for the scuffle on the pitch.

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Lionel Messi racist chants: Barcelona deny allegations

While speaking to BBC, Drenthe explained his problems with Lionel Messi. The 33-year-old former Real Madrid star stated that Messi constantly used the 'N****' towards Drenthe and his other black teammates which provoked a reaction. Lionel Messi and Barcelona strongly denied the claims. 

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