Ronaldinho: Barcelona legend couldn’t resist nutmegging Carles Puyol when they met in 2018

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·27 January 2022

Ronaldinho: Barcelona legend couldn’t resist nutmegging Carles Puyol when they met in 2018

Ronaldinho and Carles Puyol couldn’t be further apart in terms of their playing styles, but both are among the most important players in Barcelona’s history.

Ronaldinho was a phenomenally talented footballer. Arguably the most skilful player of all time, the Brazilian forward revitalised Barça following his arrival from Paris Saint-Germain in 2003.

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He brought joy to millions of football fans across the world thanks to his outrageous ability and inspired the Catalan club to the 2004-05 and 2005-06 La Liga titles, as well as the 2005-06 Champions League.

Puyol, on the other hand, didn’t possess 10 per cent of Ronaldinho’s extraordinary talent.

But what he did possess was the heart of a lion. A born winner who gave 100 per cent every time he pulled on the shirt, the no-nonsense centre-back led by example on and off the pitch and is arguably the club’s greatest ever captain.

Puyol spent his entire 18-year professional career with Barça, winning six league titles and three Champions Leagues.

Both men will forever occupy a special place in the hearts of every Barcelona supporter.

Training against Ronaldinho must have been an absolute nightmare for Puyol, who then suffered years of training ground torment against a certain Lionel Messi.

The Spaniard met up with his former Brazilian teammate at a charity event for the Cruyff Foundation in September 2018 and probably thought he was safe from further humiliation.

Then again, he really should have known better - especially after spotting a football at their feet.

Ronaldinho couldn’t resist embarrassing Puyol for one final time, pulling off a cheeky little nutmeg as the pair posed for photos.

After realising what had just happened, Puyol gave Ronaldinho a little elbow to prevent the South American from retrieving the ball and dishing out more humiliation.