They say training goals don’t count for much, but that cliché couldn’t be aimed at Lionel Messi.

The Barcelona and Argentina legend, who is preparing for his country’s friendly clash against Italy at Manchester City‘s Etihad Stadium on Friday night, embarrassed his team-mates by scoring a superb goal in training on Thursday.

La Albiceleste are training at the Sky Blues’ Etihad Campus ahead of the game and Messi is clearly enjoying linking up with his international colleagues again, including Sergio Aguero and former Blaugrana star Javier Mascherano – who moved to China in January.

And in training, despite the freezing cold conditions, Messi warmed things up with a training goal of note.

Collecting the ball just inside his own half, the 30-year-old’s trademark burst of pace and acceleration saw him skip past three Argentina players, pivot just outside the 18-yard box and then sweetly strike the ball home with his left foot into the postage-stamp corner. It had shades of THAT goal he scored against Athletic Bilbao.

Luckily, this one was captured on camera and you can watch it below: