Lionel Messi has one of the greatest footballing brains in history.

Amidst all the statistics and records that adorn every season of Messi's decorated career, it's easy to forget just how much of his genius is comprised by factors that couldn't possibly be distilled into numbers.

After all, Messi - perhaps more than anyone else - is the perfect example of a footballer who has a certain je ne sais quoi that makes it hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes them such a marvel to behold.

Messi's footballing genius

And as much as we'd like to pontificate about how Messi has some sort of magic in his boots, the less poetic reality is that so many of his seemingly intangible moments of genius emanate from his astonishing football IQ.

Like a chess grandmaster in full flow, Messi is playing the beautiful game by making what feels like a thousand micro-decisions in the space of time that it would take us mere mortals to make just three.

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Not only is the Paris Saint-Germain star working ten to the dozen in order to slalom through defenders and find space in the penalty area, but he's constantly mastering the art of scanning even when he's out of possession.

And while it might seem like a footballing hipster's cappuccino-fuelled dream to say as such, it's exactly the very computation that the likes of Pep Guardiola are on about when they explain why Messi walks so much at the start of games.

So, yes, even though every professional footballer worth their salt is constantly reading the game, the simple fact of the matter is that Messi does it better than most everybody in history.

"We always miss the small details of Messi"

As such, it should come as no surprise that Twitter can often be awash with videos showing the 35-year-old displaying the very intelligence that makes him such a hard man to pin down on the football pitch.

And another such clip has attracted some serious intention in recent days for breaking down a fabulous goal that Messi scored against Osasuna in his final season at Barcelona.

Posted by Twitter user @SK10Football to the tune of more than 1,800 retweets and 14,800 'likes', the edit makes the point that 'we always miss the small details of Messi' by breaking down his every move before scoring.

From inferring the motive behind each of Messi's glances to revelling in every flourish of his dribbling, the video really does demonstrate just how much thought goes into each one of the Barca icon's masterpieces.

So if you, like us, enjoy gaining a new level of appreciation for the very best sportspeople in the business then be sure to check out the latest demonstration of Messi's genius for yourself down below:

Yup, this Leo kid knows one or two things about playing football.

Reading the game at 100mph

While we can never know for certain what Messi is thinking with each and every turn of his head, it really is fascinating to actually pause for a second and appreciate just how mental arithmetic is involved at the very highest level of the game.

The odd fan in the comments might be downplaying it as 'just part of the job' and it's true to a certain extent, but that doesn't make it any less amazing that elite players like Messi have to pull it off so quickly, so often.

Plus, at the end of the day, we can't allow ourselves to become too numb to the genius behind these nuances just because Messi has made such a habit of making the extraordinary look like his ordinary over the years.

And maybe that's why we do so often miss the small details with Messi because we're often too blown away by all the incredible goals, assists and skills that they lead to.