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Football is one sport that unites millions of people together in support of one cause, one team and one goal. The beautiful game has gone on to spread smiles to the faces of billions of people all around the world.
Whether the sublime skills, great goals, unreal assists, passion, finesse, aggression or just sheer will power shown by the players. Football fans all over the globe have come to appreciate it all and know what to expect from various players in different situations.
Some of these moves have occurred so regularly that fans and even the opposition have come to expect it. Rival managers do all they can on the training pitch to avoid such glorious moves from wreaking havoc against their team.
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The opposition and their manager expect this moves and plan against them. However, they somehow keep coming off time and time again. Here, we consider 5 trademark moves that are seemingly unstoppable.
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#5 Arjen Robben's left footed shot to the top corner
The flying Dutch winger has terrorized defenders for more than 15 years. Whether at PSV, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern or with the Dutch national team, he has been one player that rival managers have had to make plans for.
Arjen Robben's pace, dribbling, understanding of the game and a hammer of a left foot have been a threat to the opposition in a career that has seen him win 11 domestic league titles, the UEFA champions league, cup competitions and a multitude of individual awards.
Robben's trademark goal is the left-footed curled finish into the top corner from the right wing of the final third. Opposition players all know its coming, they come prepared to combat it but somehow the ball inevitably nestles in the top corner where he envisaged it.
With Robben leaving Bayern at the end of the 2018/19 season, the Bavarians will miss his absolute screamers from the right wing. Replacing such high calibre efficiency may prove difficult for the German giants.
#4 Lionel Messi's lofted through pass to Jordi Alba
The Argentine number 10 has done many spectacular things in a career that has seen him accumulate 5 Ballon d'Ors, 4 UEFA Champions League titles, 9 LaLiga titles and a plethora of other awards.
One of the least spectacular things Lionel Messi does per game is finding Barcelona left-back Jordi Alba. However, he does it with such regularity, it is almost impossible for a game to end without that pass being made if both players feature.
Jordi Alba, on the other hand, is a very willing runner with a good first touch and the ability to control the ball under a varying amount of pressure. This makes the Spaniard the best outlet for Messi's through passes and serves as one of the steps in the eventual demolition of an opponent.
The Messi - Alves partnership was broken up when the Brazilian decided to leave Camp Nou for Juventus in 2016. Since then, the Messi - Alba partnership has gone from strength to strength and is a vital step in breaking down the opposition.
#3 Jordi Alba's low pass to Messi who shoots into the bottom corner
Lionel Messi is so great that there is a list for the people who have assisted him most in his career. Jordi Alba may rank a lowly 7th on the list but 20 assists to the Argentine is not to be scoffed at especially considering their partnership started blossoming two years ago after the departure of Neymar to PSG for a world record fee.
Messi to Alba and back to Messi has accounted for a majority of the assists provided by the Spaniard to arguably, the greatest player of all time.
With Ernesto Valverde much more willing to change the normal Barcelona 4-3-3- formation to a 4-4-2 or any other formation, there is a heavy reliance on Alba's willingness to keep the width and his ability to find Lionel Messi in dangerous areas.
#2 Sergio Ramos' headed goal from a set piece
104 career goals. Many strikers will be proud to have scored 104 career goals. However, Real Madrid's iconic captain has achieved such an illustrious feat and by so doing joins an elite group of defenders to have more than 100 career goals alongside Ronald Koeman (193) and Daniel Alberto Passarella(134).
Be it penalties, tap-ins, direct free kicks, headers or even cheeky panenkas, Sergio Ramos has scored the lot and would probably be remembered more for his ability in the opposition box and his mental toughness than for his defending.
One moment that really encapsulates the Madrid captain is his headed equalizer on 92 mins and 48 seconds in the UEFA Champions League final in 2014. That moment is one that Los Blancos fans would forever cherish as it heralded Real's sustained period of UCL success.
That header is by no means the only one. The Madrid number 4 has scored many other vital headed goals. An equalizer in the Camp Nou and UCL goals vs Bayern Munich come to mind.
#1 Iniesta's Cruyff turn
The man, the legend, the maestro. It had to end with him. Didn't it ?
For many years the retired Spanish international was the definition of midfield excellence and the fulcrum of several title winning teams. Barcelona and Spain never looked the same without the small sized maestro controlling things from the middle of the pack.
The Spaniard only narrowly missed out on a couple of Ballon d'Ors and they would have been thoroughly deserved. He was perhaps unlucky to play his best football in the Messi-Ronaldo era.
The midfield maestro has many keys he used to dictate play, wriggle out of a challenge and create an opportunity for his teammates. The most popular of them is one popularized by the Dutch great whose legacy only the Spanish maestro can rival.
Iniesta ran the midfield of Barca and Spain and the Cryuff turn was one of his favorite in his artillery. It helped the great man create space, wriggle out of pressure or open up a more favourable route to goal.
Many opposition managers tried man marking Iniesta as a means for stifling his teams. Unfortunately for those managers, the ex Barcelona captain had many techniques to wriggle free and they present some of the greatest collective team movements Barca made with Iniesta in the team.
