10 facts about Lionel Messi that you didn't know

#6 He is a big foodie

In the initial stages of his career, Lionel Messi's coach had a special kind of training regime where Messi was promised an alfajor (a traditional confection in Argentina) every time he scored a goal. His favourite cuisine is said to be the Barcelona mavin, and his favourite dish is Escalope Milanese.

When former manager Pep Guardiola was given the reins of the team, Messi's excess love for food was an issue he had to tackle. It resulted in the press calling Messi “the star of porcelain” for his unhealthy lifestyle related injuries.

Another funny instance is that Guardiola had to remove a Coca-Cola vending machine the team had in their training centre just to prevent Messi from having one soft drink too many!