Lionel Messi ate up half the pitch with superb run for Argentina

Lionel Messi put on a stunning display for Argentina on Friday night.

In what could well have been his final home game in international football, the Paris Saint-Germain star looked to be playing his best football again during a 3-0 win over Venezuela in World Cup qualifying.

Rumours are abound that Messi could be hanging up his boots for Argentina after the tournament in Qatar, so every cap that he collects in the famous blue and white stripes from now on is one worth treasuring.

And the Barcelona legend made that process very easy at La Bombonera as he produced exactly the type of performance that PSG fans have been calling out for at the Parc des Princes all season.

Aside from joining Nicolas Gonzalez and Angel Di Maria on the scoresheet to kickstart a potentially career-defining year, Messi generally looked as though he really had the bit between his teeth.

Besides, although Messi finally managed to win international silverware last year by securing the Copa America trophy, he’ll be well aware that World Cup glory this winter could wrap up the GOAT debate for good.

So, perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised to see Messi in such a heightened state of activity across a display from which we could extrapolate plenty of moments that are worth talking about.

However, one of our favourite flashes of Messi genius during the Venezuela win came with a scintillating run from the centre circle to the penalty area that has gone viral on Twitter.

With one post brilliantly captioned: “LIONEL MESSI. That’s it, that’s the tweet,” attracting thousands of retweets and ‘likes’, it showed the 34-year-old showcasing his unstoppable dribbling to the world.

Turning a defender and leaving them flat on their backside with his footwork,