Barcelona fans probably go to bed dreaming of an entire team of Lionel Messis.The Blaugrana have been branded 'Messi FC' in recent years and there's no shortage of examples where the 33-year-old has been forced to bail them out single-handedly. As a result, not a single team on the planet would be able to cope if Barcelona could field Messi and two exact clones as their attacking triumvirate.And when you look at some of the passes that Messi comes up with, you could probably chuck a few more clones into the midfield for good measure.Where this sci-fi dream comes flying off the rails, however, is the defence and the goalkeeper.

A team full of Messis?

We're Messi fans as much as the next, but we're pretty sure even the GOAT can't perform better in defence than Gerard Pique or outdo Marc-Andre ter Stegen between the sticks.

Nevertheless, that didn't stop the team at Bleacher Report from creating this experiment, making a few tweaks on FIFA 20 to ensure Barcelona was made of Messis and nobody else.

But who could possibly be fair opposition for this team? Well, if you're going to make a team of the world's best attacker, it made sense to try and neutralise it with an XI of the world's best defender.

A team full of Van Dijks?

That's right, an entire back four, midfield, strike-force and goalkeeper that's just Virgil van Dijk. Intimidating, we know.

And as the simulation unfolds with the 22 players (or should we say two?) taking to the pitch, one major contrast becomes clear: the height difference.

Nevertheless, would all those Messis be able to get past all those Van Dijks? And would a defence of Messis be so terrible that a strike-force of Van Dijks could beat them?

What would happen?

Check out the full video down below and keep scrolling for our breakdown of the match.

Match report

The first attack came from the Messis after 15 minutes, but after taking the nonsensical decision to cross into the box, they quickly discovered the Van Dijks will win near enough every header. 

But once the Messis channelled a tiki-taka philosophy, the opening goal arrived with one Messi firing home from close range after the other saw his shot blocked.

The Messis rattled the post just a few minutes later, while the Van Dijks - who were struggling to string passes together - could only land a tackle as opposed to a shot on the goalkeeping Messi.

And things went from bad to worse for the Van Dijks before half time as the number nine Messi proved the Dutchman(or men?) can be dribbled past by firing home with his right foot.

However, the Van Dijks did improve after the break, finally forcing a save from Messi but somehow failing to score from a corner when they literally dwarfed all their opponents.

A reply did arrive from the team of defenders, though, as one of the attacking Van Dijks found the net at the near post on his weak foot.

But just seconds after a Van Dijk missed a one-on-one chance, Messi proved his greatness by beating an entire back four of Van Dijks to a header to make it 3-1 in stoppage time.

Team Messi 3-1 Team Van Dijk

And breathe. We need a drink.

So, the data at EA Sports would suggest that a team of Messis functions better than a team of Van Dijks. Pretty comfortably, too, to be honest.

It would appear that the greatest attack in history can do more damage on the world's best defence, than a trio of centre-backs can do against a terrible one.

But until Van Dijks are being churned out like Dolly the sheep, we're pretty sure Liverpool fans will be keeping the jury out for now.