Messi makes his dog go through what so many defenders have in games against him

So many defenders over the years have had to go through the humiliation of having to take the ball of Lionel Messi and failing miserably. He is one of, if not the most, competent footballers at keeping the ball away from his opponents.

"Tied to a string" is a phrase you often hear when Messi has the ball at his feet, like so many professional footballers have found out in coming up against the Barcelona man.

Widely regarded as the Greatest of all time, Messi's ability to keep possession is second to none and unfortunately, it was his dog Hulk who bore the brunt of that recently.

Dogs love playing with a ball. We're all familiar with the fetching game that dogs around the globe are made to play by their respective owners, and they're more than happy to do it.

But Leo Messi isn't just your regular dog owner. Instead of throwing a ball and asking his dog to fetch it, recently the Argentine decided to make his dog go through the torture of trying to win the ball off his twinkling feet.

In a video uploaded by his wife on Instagram, the Argentine knocks it about a bit, prompting Hulk to get involved and attempt to disposes him.

Lionel Messi's dog looks like most La Liga defenders trying to tackle him! pic.twitter.com/Zku5sjD6XB

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 30, 2018

The dog tries his best to take the ball from him, but Messi simply keeps dinking the ball over his dogs head and gives his a cruel lesson in the consequences of trying to that, something the best defenders in the world know all to well.

You can imagine players who've tried to do the same over the past couple of decades, sitting in their chairs and empathizing with the animal - who, if anything, came the closest anyone has in the past.

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Did the dog do a better job than most defenders in world football? Let us know in the comments section below.