DTotD: Leo Messi is turning into Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the world's leading authority in the art of teammate kicking, has a new challenger to his title: Lionel Messi. Having mastered the business of kicking balls (at the club level, at least), Messi decided to take up teammate kicking after Barcelona arrived in Japan for the Club World Cup.

Of course, delivering one kick to Jose Manuel Pinto's backside hardly qualifies as a statement of intent to capture Zlatan's title. But he wasn't done there...

Messi is clearly enjoying this new endeavor. Alexis Sanchez has found it far more troubling. Both of these kicks caused Sanchez to fall to the ground even though he was nowhere near Messi.

Photos: Marca, AP