It seems that Lionel Messi wasn’t the first Barcelona superstar to attempt the cheeky ‘passed penalty’ that he and Luis Suarez pulled off last weekend.
The Argentine attacker and his Uruguayan accomplice made headlines last weekend when the former won a penalty with Barcelona 3-1 up against Celta Vigo in La Liga action. Messi took the penalty, but instead of converting past Sergio Alvarez for his second of the match, he squared to Suarez who finished with aplomb, completing his hat-trick in the process.
Ivan Rakitic and Neymar added late goals to give the reigning champions a 6-1 victory, but their late barrage couldn’t take the attention away from the divisive penalty.
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However, as this footage reveals, Messi isn’t the first Barca star to attempt such a trick.
While Dutch master Johan Cruyff has largely been hailed as the innovator of the ‘passed penalty’, perhaps Messi has another (unlikely) inspiration in the form of teammate Gerard Pique.
Hahaha, Piqué hat den Messi-Elfer auch schon mal probiert!
Posted by Transfer Ticker on Saturday, 20 February 2016