Marco Verratti dispelled a long-standing myth during Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night.
For years, since the conception of football, players have been under the impression that the most effective and efficient way of playing football was to wear boots on their feet.
Whether it be the heavy-duty leather wellies that players wore in years gone by, or the wafer-thin, tailor-made, perfectly-moulded, sock-like boots that they wear nowadays, scarcely, perhaps never, have we seen a player enter the field of play without them.
Are they all missing a trick? Perhaps.
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After a challenge from Man City skipper for the night Kevin De Bruyne left Verratti’s boot hanging off his foot, he decided that he didn’t need it anyway.
The Italian midfield maestro tossed his boot to the side before taking a free-kick with just his sock-covered right-foot.
And I’ll tell you what, it wasn’t a bad pass, either…
Pictures courtesy of BT Sport