West Ham’s Declan Rice was perhaps getting a glimpse of what awaits him in the future as he watched Lionel Messi work his magic last night.
The Barcelona superstar netted a brace as Ronald Koeman lifted his first trophy as boss to beat Athletico Bilbao 4-0 in the Copa Del Rey final – and West Ham’s defensive rock was impressed by the ‘ridiculous’ Messi, as he posted on Twitter.
After an hour, Bilbao would have been pretty happy with proceedings because they had kept Barca at bay.
But that’s when the floodgates opened.
Within three minutes, the Catalan giants were 2-0 up, and the last thing Marcelino García Toral’s side needed was Messi bringing out his party tricks and going on a little dance.
Using Man of the Match, Frenkie de Jong as his shield, from inside his own half, he played a number of one-twos with the Dutchman, before dazzling his way into the penalty area, working the ball onto his favoured left foot and killing the game off for good.
It’s a goal that impressed Rice, who may well come up against that level of quality if West Ham can secure Champions League football this season.
Whilst David Moyes’ men are still fourth in the Premier League table, their defeat against Newcastle yesterday didn’t help matters, but there’s no better way to put that right than to see past Chelsea next week.
If they can beat their London rivals then Rice may have to get his homework book out to try and work out how he stops a dribbling steam train like Messi dancing past him in Europe next season.
Until then, the Englishman is just admiring one of the greats from afar.
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