Carles Puyol's brutal tackle on Phil Neville in 6-a-side match

Carles Puyol is without question one of the greatest defenders to have played the game.

The 44-year-old was part of the Barcelona first-team setup for 15 years and achieved an enormous amount of success.

Puyol, who was named captain of the club at the end of the 2003/04 season following Luis Enrique’s retirement, won 18 trophies in total.

The defender was also brilliant for Spain and famously scored the winner in the 2010 World Cup semi-final against Germany, a tournament they went on to win.

What made Puyol such a magnificent footballer was his never-say-die attitude and unwavering commitment to the cause.

Puyol never gave anything less than 100% out on the pitch and that’s part of the reason why so many world-class forwards failed to get the better of him.

However, the no-nonsense Spaniard’s competitive nature was not always a good thing and poor ol’ Phil Neville found out the hard way.

In 2017, the two came face-to-face at the inaugural Star Sixes tournament, with Puyol’s Spain side defeating England 4-1.

But the Barcelona icon was lucky to remain on the pitch for the entirety of the game, because he was guilty of a horrendous tackle on Neville.

It’s a minor miracle the ex-Manchester United full-back escaped serious injury…

Carles Puyol with possibly the most horrific tackle you will ever see on Phil Neville!