Barcelona

Lionel Messi gets embarrassed when reading Tweets about himself

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:34 p.m. ET

Alex Dowd

Normally, we're used to seeing athletes read mean tweets about themselves. Barcelona took it in a different direction, having some of their stars read some praise from the social media sphere (side note: that probably took some time, because trolls). The likes of Arda Turan, Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique, Ivan Rakitic and Lionel Messi all took turns reading the plaudits from Twitter, which included hashtags about the players.

Fans call Messi an "alien" for his other-worldly prowess on the pitch. The "effective" Pique draws praise, as does the "down to earth" Rakitic. The player perhaps most excited about his label is Turan, who is called a "wizard."

"I love Wizard Turan," the Barcelona winger says. Messi is rather touched by the effusive compliments, though. The Argentine says the nice words embarrass him and even make him sweat a bit.

"I'm totally different from an alien. I'm completely normal," he says. Well, that's not entirely true, Leo, but we get the sentiment.