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26th March 2018
09:29am BST

"Are you going to Barcelona or not?"
In an interview with El Periodico, Paulinho claims that this is what Messi said to him just he was stepping up to take the free-kick. Perfect timing to ask, no?
"I was preparing to take a free-kick with Willian and another player I do not remember. Suddenly, I see Messi from behind, who is approaching me little by little and says: "Are you going to Barcelona or not?'" He told me right before I was about to take the free-kick", he said.
"What did I tell him? 'If you want to take me, you can take me. I am going'. I was so nervous that I said to Willian, 'You're taking the free-kick!'"
What Messi wants, Messi gets; Paulinho couldn't take the free-kick and he was a Barcelona player just a couple of months later.
To be honest though, I'm not sure about Lionel's game-management here, as I would do just about anything to have Paulinho stood over a 30-yarder than Willian, who surprisingly couldn't punish the Argentinians this time. But then again, what do I know? They won the match 1-0.Explore more on these topics: