Lionel Messi shocked his teammates and his manager with a free kick in Barcelona’s win against Girona which evoked memories of Ronaldinho’s effort against Werder Bremen in 2006.
Barca recovered from going 1-0 down to Girona in the third minute of Saturday’s Catalan derby at Camp Nou to win 6-1, with Messi producing a stunning first-half performance.
The Argentine international set up Luis Suarez for the equaliser before beating three defenders inside the box to give Barca the lead.
Asked after the game about Messi’s free kick, Barca coach Ernesto Valverde said in a news conference: “It’s hard to get used to these things.
“Just when a player seems to have done everything, he goes and surprises you. We were waiting to see how he was going to beat the wall and then he goes underneath it.
“When you see it, you think ‘ah, of course…’ Leo makes it look easy, but it’s not that easy.”
Coutinho, who scored the fifth before Suarez added the sixth, completing his hat trick, says even the Barca players didn’t know what Messi had up his sleeve.
“Leo is amazing,” Coutinho told Movistar. “He fooled everyone with his goal from the free kick under the wall.
“It’s incredible how good he is. With each game, I have a better understanding with him and with Suarez. [Messi’s] very important for us.”
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