Doctor Explains a Medically Bonkers Facet of Lionel Messi's Free Kick Technique

Free kicks are an art form and there are not many better out there from a dead-ball situation than the world's best player - Lionel Messi.

The Argentine has scored a staggering number of free kicks over the course of his illustrious career, often from unthinkable range and with unrivalled precision. If you need proof of the attacker's expertise from set-pieces, then just rewind to the Champions League semi-final first leg against Liverpool last season.

If you've been wondering for years just how to take a free kick like the six-time Ballon d'Or winner, then there is good news and bad news.

The good news is that a recent Squawka podcast has revealed the technique used by the Barcelona legend. The bad news is that it appears the 32-year-old has trained himself to power through a motion which would normally sprain his ankle every time he takes a free kick to allow for increased flexibility, control and consistency.

Dr Rajpal Brar spoke on the podcast about Messi's free-kick routine, insisting that the Argentine's unquestionable ability from such situations comes as a result of him nearly spraining his right ankle when striking the ball - something he has trained himself to do without causing significant injury.

"When Messi strikes the ball, he shifts his hip to the right. He really moves his hips to the right as he's striking to open up his left strike leg," said Brar.

"And what that does on his plant leg is that it shifts all the weight to the outside of the foot. So then when he follows through and he's striking the ball - that left leg coming from left to right - now everything is going onto the outside of his ankle almost like what happens when you sprain your ankle."

He continued: "We call it 'inversion sprain' when it twists inwards - it's that same force. You have all that force on the outside of your ankle and it twists inwards. But in Messi's case, he's trained himself and his body to control that motion."

Messi has managed an unbelievable 46 free-kick goals with Barcelona and seems to be getting better with age and practice. Since the beginning of the 2017/18 season, the winger has netted 17 times directly from free kicks - that's just under six a season and we haven't even finished 2019/20 yet.

So, there you go. If you want to hit a free kick like the world's best then you'll have to power through the pain - and grab some ice for that ankle.